


His Weakness (part 1)

by Cactilda



Series: His Weakness [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-01-24 07:11:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 29,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18566473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cactilda/pseuds/Cactilda
Summary: (Y/n) Dursely and Draco Malfoy had been practically attached by the hip since the day they met.  Too bad a muggle-born witch and a pureblood wizard were never meant to be...(I apologize in advance for any mistakes grammatically or HP wise, it's been QUITE a while since I've watched the movies, and I've been relying on scripts for this. Also I apologize if Hufflepuff is not your house, I thought it was the most Romeo and Juliet-esque relationship without being too cliche.)





	1. 1

“Come one little sister!  Wake up!”

You groaned under your blankets and rolled over as your older brother by five minutes banged on your door.  A minute later, you heard him running up and down the stairs, and you knew your cousin Harry was up now as well.  It was yours and your brother, Dudley’s, birthday today, a day you grew to loathe almost as much as Harry.  Petunia, your mother, never doted on you nearly as much as she did with her “precious baby boy” because of some unexplainable tricks you had made. You slowly made your way out of bed and downstairs, not bothering to get changed.  Harry met you at the foot of the stairs, almost swimming in his large flannel and cargo pants.  You were fortunate enough to be the Dursley’s daughter and just narrowly missed being in the same living situation as your poor cousin.

“Oh here he comes, the birthday boy!” you two heard Petunia squeal from the kitchen, and both of you rolled your eyes.

You walked in together to be barely greeted by your grotesquely large father, Vernon, who was seated at the dining room table reading the newspaper.  “Happy birthday son!” he grinned at your brother, not seeming to remember that it was your birthday too, which was not out of the norm.

“Why don’t you try to cook the breakfast, try not to burn anything,” Petunia said to Harry dismissively.

“Yes Aunt Petunia,” Harry replied, walking over to the stove.  Thankfully she ignored you and went back to doting on Dudley.  “I’ll help you Harry,” you said, joining him.

“Thanks (y/n), but you don’t have to, it’s your birthday after all!”

“Yes well, I might as well be invisible.”

“It’s better than my situation,” Harry said with a hint of disdain.

“That’s true,” you said, then turned your attention to the food you were cooking.

“I want everything to be perfect for my Dudley's special day!” Petunia said from the table, and you rolled your eyes so hard you feared they might get stuck!

“Hurry up! Bring my coffee, boy!” your father shouted.  Harry turned to get his coffee to him, but you stopped him before he could.

“I’ve got it; you focus on the food!”

“Thanks (y/n).”

“No problem!”

You grabbed your father’s coffee and began carrying it delicately over to him, careful not to spill any.  While you were giving him his coffee, you overheard your brother begin pitching a fit over the presents.  _Here we go_ you groaned internally, he always threw a fit when he didn’t get exactly what he wanted.  Meanwhile you were grateful for any gift you got!  That was the difference between you two, manners and etiquette.  Finally, Petunia managed to calm Dudley down by promising him to get him more presents when you all went out to the zoo later that day.

Breakfast seemed to drag by as Dudley tore open all of his presents with his pudgy fingers, and you were thankful when it was finally time to leave!  You and Harry silently joked that if it had taken any longer, the two of you may have exploded!  Now you all were finally off to the zoo, and excited to see the animals.  Before you and Harry could get in the car, however, Vernon stopped you.

“I'm warning you now, boy. Any funny business, any at all, and you won't have any meals for a week.  And you,” he pointed a fat finger at you, “The same goes for you.  Get in.”

Cautiously, the two of you slipped into the car as if afraid you’d get punished if Vernon didn’t like the way you sat down.  Neither of you moved as you all drove to the zoo, and you barely breathed as well.  You two sat stiff as boards on the drive, afraid that any sudden movements may get you thrown out of the car!

“Finally,” Harry breathed as the car pulled up to the zoo and you were finally able to escape.  None of the animals intrigued you too much as you all walked around, most of them were asleep in their pens.  You pitied them, really, being cooped up in such small pens had to drive them absolutely mad!  Dudley eventually lead you all to the reptile exhibit, and out of the corner of your eye, you saw Harry’s face light up.  He always loved reptiles!  It was an odd fascination to you, you didn’t dislike reptiles, but you weren’t nearly as fond of them as Harry was.

You all walked over to a boa constrictor’s case and watched it as it slept.  “Make it move!” Dudley demanded.  Vernon rapped on the glass loudly with his knuckles, and shouted move.  Nothing.  It remained asleep and motionless.  Unhappy with the result, Dudley banged on the glass harder, making you jump.

“Move!” he shouted louder.

“He’s asleep!” you and Harry said in unison.

“He’s boring,” Dudley said, and walked off with your parents.  You, however, stayed with Harry.  It seemed as if he had forgotten about your presence, though, because he began talking to the snake as if it were an old friend!

“Sorry about him. He doesn't understand what it's like, lying there, day after day, having people press their ugly faces in on you.”

To yours and Harry’s surprise, it slowly looked up at the two of you and blinked, as if understanding what Harry was saying!

“Can you...hear me?”  The snake nodded, and your eyes widened.  Harry continued: “It's just...I've never talked to a snake before. Do you...I mean...do you talk to people often?”

The snake shook its head no, and Harry’s face lit up a little more, and looked at the little plaque next to the case, reading a bit of information about his new friend.  “You're from Burma, aren't you? Was it nice there, do you miss your family?”

It turned its head toward the small plaque and gestured to the small writing that read, Bred in Captivity.  Harry sighed sadly and said, “I see. That's me as well. I never knew my parents, either.”

There was a loud gasp from behind you, and you turned your head as Harry continued his conversation.  Your cousin’s little interaction with the friendly boa had caught the attention of Dudley, and you tried to get Harry’s attention before your brother came over, but it was too late.

Dudley sprinted over to the case and shoved Harry out of the way!  “Mummy, dad, come here! You won't believe what this snake is doing!!” he squealed like a pig.  He leaned over the rail in front of the case and pressed up against the glass, watching in amazement as the snake slithered around, concerned about your cousin.  Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Harry glaring at Dudley, and you turned to help him up.  Before you could reach him though, the glass disappeared from beneath Dudley, and his large hand latched onto your shirt for support as he fell, dragging you into the container with him!

You fell forward into the water next to Dudley, sputtering and soaking wet!  Your forehead had scraped against a branch laying across the water, and blood was beginning to slowly drip down the side of your face.  You and Dudley watched with a mixture of amazement and terror as the snake slithered across your lap and out of the enclosure.  It gently lowered itself to the floor and turned to Harry, and for a moment you worried for your cousin’s safety!

It hissed at him and he replied with anytime, so you could only assume that it had thanked him.  It turned and began slithering down the hall, terrifying the other visitors.  You sat in the water for a minute, tying to understand what exactly had happened.  What had happened to the glass?  It couldn’t have broken, nothing had shattered!  Dudley stood up, not bothering to help you, and started to get out of the enclosure.  However, as luck would have it, the glass was back in place, and you found yourself next to Dudley asking your parents for help.  You were more calm however, Dudley and Petunia were shrieking and Vernon hollering for a worker.

Harry was laughing!  You likely would have been as well, if you weren’t stuck in the case as well.  Vernon spotted his amused expression, and your heart sank.  People were starting to stare now, and you walked over to another side of the glass wall to ask one of the spectators to get a worker.

“Uhm, excuse me, sir?  C-can you get a w-worker?  M-my brother and I are s-stuck and can’t get out,” you stammered.  You were sopping wet, and despite the warm climate in the case, you were beginning to shiver.  The man you were talking to nodded and ran down the hall to get an employee.  A few minutes later, you and Dudley were out of the glass tank, swaddled in blankets, bandaged, and lectured on why it’s bad to get into animal’s tanks.  After watching the camera footage though, the workers let you off the hook while they tried to understand what had happened to the glass.  Your parents doted on Dudley even more now though, even though you had been through the same thing he had.

Harry fretted over you though, and continued to apologize even after you had told him you were fine!  For some reason, he felt that this was his fault, even though it was just a freak accident.  He seemed to calm down a little bit after this, but began worrying when you got back home.  You were scared too, your father had threatened the both of you that if anything happened, neither of you would be fed.  As soon as both of you were inside, he took your hair and threw you against the wall.  You and Harry cried out in pain.  “What happened?!” he shouted.

“We swear, we don’t know!” you defended.

“It was like magic!” Harry added.

“There’s no such thing as magic!” Vernon spat, and threw Harry into the cupboard he called his room, then dragged you upstairs and thrust you into your room, slamming the door shut.  You rubbed your arm in pain and sniffed a bit.


	2. 2

A few weeks later, you were sitting up in your room drawing when movement outside your window caught your eye.  You looked up and saw an owl swoop down to your door, then fly off and perch nearby.  You stared at it, fascination filling your (e/c) eyes, then ran downstairs to watch it from the yard.  As you landed on the last step, you nearly ran into Harry as he looked through the mail.

“You and I got something!” he grinned, and handed you a fancy looking envelope that matched his own.  On it, Hogwarts was written in large loopy cursive.  You grinned as well, completely forgetting about the owl, and walked into the kitchen with him.  Before anyone else could see the letter, you stuffed it down your shirt for safe keeping.  You knew that if your family saw the letter, they’d never give it back!  Which was a mistake Harry made.  His envelope was immediately plucked from his hands by Dudley, and given to Vernon.

You and Harry stood next to each other, stiff as boards, as your parents tore open the wax sealed letter and stared in shock and horror at the contents.  You gulped, now fearing what could be hidden in your envelope.  Before Harry could protest though, his letter was torn up and tossed into the waste bin, much to his dismay.  Too hurt to eat he ran back to his room and shut the door.  You ran to yours as well, your curiosity eating away at you.  You tore open your letter as soon as the door was shut and read the contents, eyes wide and heart beating fast.

_Magic was real._

“Harry!  Harry come here!” you shouted gleefully, and he was sitting next to you in a flash.  “Look!” you said, and thrust the letter into his hands, and he began to read the letter aloud.

“Dear Ms. Dursley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on the 1st of September. We await your owl by no later than the 31st of July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress”

Harry looked at you and grinned!  You two were finally going to get out of this dreadful house!  You knew that you and Harry were special, you knew it!  Was this why your parents hated you so?  Because you had powers?  Now Harry just had to get his, specifically, then you could get out of this awful place.

The next day, another owl came and dropped a handful of identical letters through the letterbox.  You and Harry watched in dismay as Vernon tore up the letters and drilled the letterbox shut.  However, hope was not all lost yet!  Owls were beginning to take up every spot they could outside your house, and your morning entertainment was watching your father leave for work and try to scare them off his car, which was always unsuccessful.  Animal control was called numerous times to get rid of them, but every time they arrived, the owls were gone, and they wouldn’t return until the workers left.

The Dursleys were so intent on keeping Harry’s letter away from him, that Harry caught Vernon burning his letters multiple times.  Petunia even started finding them in her eggs though, and began shrieking the first time she cracked one open and found a letter!  Your parents still had no idea that you had received one as well, and you planned on keeping it that way until you left.

Finally, on one fine Sunday afternoon, you, Harry, and the rest of your family were seated in the living room in uncomfortable bliss.  Your father had been on edge all week, and seemed ready to snap at any moment!

“Fine day Sunday. In my opinion, best day of the week. Why is that, Dudley?”  Dudley shrugged.

“Because there's no post on Sunday?” Harry answered, handing Vernon a cookie.

“Ah, right you are, Harry. No post on Sunday. Hah! No blasted letters today. No, sir…”

Something outside caught yours and Harry’s attention, and your mouths fell open.  Outside were hundreds, possibly even thousands of owls of all shapes, sizes, and colors!  “No sir, not one blasted, miserable---“

A letter shoots out of the fireplace and zips across Vernon’s face!  There was a loud rumble, and millions of letters come shooting out of the fireplace, flying gracefully around the room in a paper tornado!  Dudley screamed and leapt onto Petunia, while you and Harry cheered, snatching as many letters as you could from the air and running.  You stuffed a few down your shirt, in your pockets, and your socks, making sure there was no way Harry wouldn’t get one.

Unfortunately, Vernon noticed yours and Harry’s escape, and ran as fast as his fat legs could carry him.  He reached Harry before the small boy could escape into his room.

“Get off!  They’re my letters!  Let go of me!” Harry shouted, and you tried unsuccessfully to pry him from your father’s grip. 

“That's it! We're going away! Far away! Where they can't find us!” Vernon hollered, scaring Petunia and Dudley half out of their wits.

“Daddy’s gone mad, hasn’t he?!” your brother cried from the safety of your mother’s arms.


	3. 3

Before you knew it, you and your family had packed up and moved to a rickety old house in the middle of a sea. The house was mounted on a tiny stone island, and had practically no yard! Everyone hated it there, you and Harry especially. One night, while everyone was sleeping, you and Harry had decided to stay up to celebrate his birthday. It was a rather depressing sight: you on your cot, Harry on the floor, and a birthday cake drawn in the dirt between you two. Harry’s watch beeped at midnight and you smiled sadly and quietly sang happy birthday to him, trying your best to not wake up the sleeping form of your brother.  
“Thanks (y/n).”  
“No problem! I hope we get out of here someday and over to Hogwarts.”  
“Me too.”  
“Well, make a wish!”  
Harry blew the candles drawn on the ground, and dust flew up into your faces, making you cough and wave your hands about to clear the air. Suddenly, the door thumped. You and Harry jumped in surprise, and looked at each other, fear written on your faces. Dudley was awake now as well, just as scared as you were. Who on Earth would try to come visit you? The door thumped again and Dudley, you, and Harry jumped up and backed away. Petunia and Vernon appeared at the bottom of the stairs, Vernon held a gun in his hands. The door banged again and fell to the ground, and a giant man filled the doorway!  
“Who’s there?” your father asked, holding the gun fearfully.  
“Sorry 'bout that!” the giant man said, and placed the door back on its hinges.  
“I demand that you leave at once, Sir! You are breaking and entering!”  
“Dry up, Dursley, you great prune,” the giant said, bending your father’s gun up and it fired a bullet through the ceiling! You jumped at the gunshot, and stood a little behind your brother. The man turned to Dudley and grinned warmly, “Mind, I haven't seen you since you was a baby, Harry, but you're a bit more along than I would have expected. Particularly 'round the middle!”  
“I-I-I'm not Harry,” Dudley stuttered.  
“H-he is,” you pointed at Harry.  
“Oh, well, of course you are! Got something for ya. 'Fraid I might have sat on it at some point! I imagine that it'll taste fine just the same. Ahh. Baked it myself,” he handed Harry a box, “Words and all. Heh.”  
“Thank you!” he responded. Harry opened the box and grinned, then showed you the contents as you came out from hiding behind your brother. It was a wonderfully pink cake wishing Harry a happy birthday! Well, almost. The writing was rather lopsided and very misspelled, but one could still tell what it was saying.  
“It's not every day that your young man turns eleven, now is it?” the man laughed. He sat down on the couch and aimed his umbrella at the dark fireplace. Two sparks flew out of it and lit a nice warm fire, causing everyone in the room to gape at him. His dark eyes glinted warmly, then flitted to you and he smiled. “And who might you be?”  
“I-I’m (y/n).”  
“Ah yes! I’ve heard such lovely things about ya! I look forward to seeing ya in Hogwarts.”  
“Thank you Mister…?”  
“Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts. Course, you'll know all about Hogwarts.”  
“Sorry, no, we don’t much about it, other than the fact we’ve been accepted,” Harry responded, setting his cake down.  
“No? Blimey, Harry, didn't you ever wonder where yer mum and dad learned it all? And fer you yer Aunt and Uncle?” Hagrid looked between the two of you.  
“Learnt what?” you asked, “Magic?”  
“What?! Dursley! Do yeh mean ter tell me the children know nothin’? You two are a witch and a wizard!”  
“W-we’re a what?” Harry asked, thoroughly confused.  
“A witch and wizard. And thumping good ones at that, I'd wager. Once you train up a little.”  
“Don’t you remember the letter I showed you Harry?” you grinned,  
“Wait you got one of those awful things too?” your mother gasped, but you ignored her.  
“No, you've made a mistake. I can't be...a-a wizard. I mean, I'm just... Harry. Just Harry.”  
“Well, Just Harry, did you ever make anything happen? Anything you couldn't explain when you were angry or scared? And what about (y/n)? I’m sure she’s done something like that as well hasn’t she!”  
Harry’s look softened as he remembered all the odd and unexplainable tricks the two of you had done over the years, including the most recent boa incident.  
“They’ll not be going! (Y/n) especially! We swore when we took him in we’d put an end to this rubbish!”  
“You knew?! You knew all along and you never told me?!” Harry exclaimed, visibly furious.  
“Of course we knew,” your mother replied haughtily, “How could you not be? My perfect sister being who she was. Oh, my mother and father were so proud the day she got her letter. We have a witch in the family. Isn't it wonderful? I was the only one to see her for what she was. A freak! And then she met that Potter, and then she had you, and I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as ... abnormal. And then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up! And we got landed with you. Then my daughter started doing the same tricks as you! She was perfect before you came along.”  
“Mother!” you cried, just as upset as Harry now. How could your own mum say that?  
“Blown up? You told me my parents died in a car crash!” Harry was growing increasingly more upset.  
Hagrid was appalled at this story, unable to believe such a thing could kill your aunt and uncle. “We had to tell him something,” your mother reasoned.  
“It's an outrage! It's a scandal!” Hagrid bellowed  
“They’ll not be going!” your father shouted.  
“Oh, and I suppose a great Muggle like yourself's going to stop them, are you?”  
“Muggle?” you and Harry asked in unison.  
“Non-magic folk. These kids have had their names down ever since they were born! They’re going to the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world, and they'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts' has ever seen: Albus Dumbledore.”  
“I will not pay for some crackpot old fool to teach them magic tricks!”  
Hagrid whipped out his umbrella and pointed it at your father threateningly. While you didn’t care for Vernon, he was still your dad and Harry had to try with some difficulty to hold you back from grabbing the umbrella and pointing it somewhere else! “Never insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me,” Hagrid growled. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Dudley eating Harry’s cake, and you scowled. Typical of your brother. Hagrid noticed as well, and you gasped as he fired a spark at your brother, nailing him in the rear. A grey pig tail curled out of his pants and you had trouble figuring out if you should scream or laugh! After looking at Harry’s amused expression, you decided it was alright to laugh.  
“Sorry ‘bout that Ms. Dursley, I wouldn’t worry about him though. Yer brother’ll be fine. Oh, and um, I'd appreciate if you didn't tell anyone at Hogwarts about that. Strictly speaking, I'm not allowed to do magic.”  
You and Harry both nodded in agreement to keep his little trick secret. Hagrid looked down at his watch and his eyes widened, “Ooh, we're a bit behind schedule. Best be off. Unless you'd rather stay, of course. Hmm?” He turned and went out the door, leaving you and Harry to make your decisions. You both turned to look at the chaos unfolding behind you, looked at each other, grinned, and ran outside after Hagrid.


	4. 4

“All students must be equipped with...one standard size two pewter cauldron and may bring if they desire either an owl, a cat or a toad. Can we find all this in London?” Harry asked as you tried your best to keep up with Hagrid’s large strides

“If you know where to go,” Hagrid replied

The three of you walked along the streets of London the next day in search of your supplies.  Hagrid spotted a parking meter and chuckled, amazed at what “muggles” could dream up.  Harry continued to read the list of supplies you would need as you hopped onto a subway, occasionally stopping to look at Hagrid uncertainly.

“…And the following books: _The Standard Book of Spells_ by Miranda Goshawk, _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore…”

You all jumped off the train eventually and went to a small Inn called the Leaky Cauldron.  A small man behind the counter looked up and smiled as the three of you entered, and walked over to Hagrid.

“Ah, Hagrid! The usual, I presume?” he asked.

“No thanks, Tom. I'm on official Hogwarts business today. Just helping young Harry and (y/n) here buy their school supplies.”

The barkeep, Tom, looked down at the two of you and smiled, “Bless my soul. It's Harry Potter and (y/n) Dursley!”

The inn quieted as the patrons heard your names, and you instantly felt the urge to disappear into the shadows.  A man walked over to you and Harry and shook your hands. 

“Welcome back, Mr. Potter and Ms. Dursley, welcome back.”  You were about to respond when a woman walked up and shook your hands as well.

“Doris Crockford,” she said, “Mr. Potter and Ms. Dursley. I can't believe I'm meeting you at last!”

A man in robes and a turban appeared in front of you after she left, and greeted you with a slight stutter in his voice.  “Harry P-potter and (y/n) D-dursley. C-can't tell you how pleased I am to meet you!”

“Hello, Professor. I didn't see you there. Harry, this is Professor Quirrell. He'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts,” Hagrid introduced.

“Oh, nice to meet you,” you said, and extended your hand.  Prof. Quirrell refused it though, and you frowned slightly.

“F-fearfully fascinating subject. N-not that you need it, e-eh? Heheh,” he said instead.

“Yes, well, must be going now. Lots to buy. Heh.”

Hagrid seemed a bit on edge around him, which confused you a bit, but you and Harry bid the professor farewell and went to a back room winery.

“See, you two are famous!”

“But why are we famous, Hagrid? All those people back there, how is it they know who we were?” you asked.

“I'm not exactly sure I'm the right person to tell you that.”

Hagrid tapped the brick wall behind the winery in a clockwise fashion with his umbrella, and it shifted open to reveal a street bustling with activity!  “Welcome to Diagon Alley!” Hagrid grinned.  You and Harry grinned as well, and you stepped out into the street.  Hagrid pointed at various shops as you walked, showing you where you’d get the supplies you needed.  “Here's where you'll get your quills and ink, and over there all your bits and bobs for doing your wizardry.”

You, however, weren’t paying attention.  A small boy about your age had caught your eye, and you watched him for a minute.  He had slicked back platinum blonde, almost white hair and fair skin.  He noticed your stare after a few seconds and smiled at you, snapping you back to attention.  You blushed with embarrassment and turned to catch up with Hagrid and Harry.  “But, Hagrid, how are we to pay for all this? We haven't any money,” Harry asked, and dread settled in your stomach.  How _were_ you going to pay for all of this?

“Well there's your money, Harry. Gringotts, the Wizard Bank. T'aint no place safer, 'cept perhaps Hogwarts.”

Hagrid pointed at a rather crooked looking bank, and you gulped.  There was no way your parents had set up money for you, and you doubted that your aunt and uncle had.  Why would they?  Hagrid patted your shoulder comfortingly though, and said, “Don’t worry (y/n), your aunt and uncle haven’t forgotten about you!  They set up some money for you, fully aware of your abilities and the fact that there wasn’t a chance your parents would do it.”

Inside the bank, the three of you walked down the shiny aisle, passing tiny creatures working.

“Uh, Hagrid, what exactly are those things?” you asked, watching them scurry about.

“They're goblins, (y/n). Clever as they come goblins but not the most friendly of beasts. Best stick close to me,” Hagrid walked over to a counter where one was working and cleared his throat, “Mr. Harry Potter and Ms. (y/n) Dursley wish to make a withdrawal.”

The goblin looked up and grimaced.  “And do Mr. Harry Potter and Ms. (y/n) Dursley have their keys?”

“Oh. Wait a minute. Got it here somewhere. Hah. Here's the little devil. Oh, and there's something else as well. Professor Dumbledore gave me this. It's about you-know-what in vault you-know-which.”

The goblin’s frown only grew, “Very well.”  He led you down the hall and into a cart-like machine that raced down the bank caverns.  He clambered out once it had stopped and said, “Vault 687. Lamp, please.”  Hagrid handed him the lamp, then the key.  The goblin unlocked the vault door and yours and Harry’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.  The vault was filled floor to ceiling with gold!  Harry filled a bag with coins and climbed back in as you drove on vault down to yours.  “Vault 688, lamp please.”

You followed the same steps and watched with anticipation as your vault was unlocked and opened.  Your heart swelled when you saw that it was filled with gold, just like Harry’s!  “Didn't think your aunt and uncle would leave you with nothing, now didja?” Hagrid beamed.

You filled a bag with coins as well and hopped back on the cart as it sped down the caverns again.  “Vault 713,” the goblin said as the cart stopped again.

“What's in there, Hagrid?” Harry asked.

“Can't tell you, Harry. It's Hogwarts business. Very secret.”

The goblin slid his finger down the door, and two clanks came from inside.  The vault opened, revealing a small, white, stone package.  Hagrid scooped it up and climbed back onto the cart.  “Best not mention this to anyone,” he said.  You and Harry nodded, and the cart sped off back to the entrance.

After shopping a while more, you looked through your list again, you realized you still didn’t have a wand!  “I still need a wand,” you said, still scanning the list to see what you needed.  “A wand? Well, you'll want Ollivander’s. No place better. Run along there, but wait. I just got one more thing I got to do. Won't be long.  Harry, how about you come with me while (y/n) gets her wand?  Well get yours when we pick her up.”

“Okay Hagrid!”

After looking around a bit, you found Ollivander’s shop and stepped inside quietly.  Looking around, you noticed that there were shelves and shelves full of wands, but no people!  “Hello? Hello?” you called out softly, part of you hoped no one would respond.  There was a loud thunk and an older gentleman came out from around a ladder.  He looked at you and smiled.

“I wondered when I'd be seeing you, Ms. Dursley. It seems only yesterday that your aunt and uncle were in here buying their first wands.  Where’s Mr. Potter?”

“He’s out looking for other supplies with a friend.  Are you Ollivander?”

“Why I am indeed!” he beamed, then turned and picked out a wand, “Ah. Here we are.  Well, give it a wave!”

He handed you the wand, and you waved it, causing several shelves to come crashing down!  You squeaked and jumped out of the way!  Afraid you’d cause more destruction, you quickly put the wand back on the counter.  “Apparently not,” Ollivander said, and got another wand for you, “Perhaps this!”

You waved the next wand at a vase, and it blew apart in a second!  You thrust the wand back in his hands and feared what the next wand might have you do.  “No, no, definitely not! No matter...”  Ollivander looked around and spotted another wand.  He looked at it curiously and picked it up.  “I wonder,” he said, and handed to you.  You gingerly held the small piece of wood, terrified of what you might break next, but instead of wreaking more havoc on poor Ollivander’s shop, you glowed!  He grinned and said, “There we are!  That’s the one!”

You smiled down at your new wand, and paid Ollivander the amount you owed him, and even offered to help clean up his shop!  He declined and said stuff like that happened all the time.  Just as you finished paying, there was a knock on the window and you turned and saw Harry and Hagrid grinning, two cages in hand.  You waved at them and Hagrid raised up a cage with your name on the tag, showing you a beautiful barn owl! 

You grinned, thanked Ollivander once again, and skipped outside.  “Oh my gosh!  Hagrid she’s beautiful!” you gushed, gently taking the cage from his large hands and staring at the bird in awe.  “I’ll call you Soren!” you cooed softly, and your owl hooted softly in response.  She seemed pleased enough with the name, so you kept it!  Harry walked into the shop, and after watching him make the same mistakes you did, and a seemingly urgent discussion, he found the right wand and joined you all outside.  He seemed a bit on edge though, and you wondered what he and Ollivander had said.

That night, during supper at the inn, you noticed that Harry was unusually quiet.  “You alright Harry?” you asked, “You seem very quiet.”

Harry looked at Hagrid, his face dark and stormy, and said, “He killed my parents, didn't he? The one who gave me this scar. You know, Hagrid, I know you do.”

Hagrid sighed and pushed his bowl of soup away.  “First, and understand this, Harry, 'cause it's very important. Not all wizards are good. Some of them go bad. A few years ago there was one wizard who went as bad as you can go. And his name was V-...his name was V-...”

“Maybe if you wrote it down?”

“No, I can't spell it. All right. His name was Voldemort.”

“Voldemort?” you repeated.  Hagrid hushed you sharply and you looked around, scared that you had gotten unwanted attention.

“It was dark times, dark times. Voldemort started to gather some followers, brought 'em over to the dark side. Anyone that stood up to him ended up dead. Your parents fought against him, but nobody lived once he decided to kill 'em.  Nobody...not one. Except you, Harry.”

“Me? Voldemort tried to kill...me?”

“Yes. That ain't no ordinary cut on your forehead, Harry. A mark like that only comes from being touched by a curse...and an evil curse at that.”

“What happened to Vo-...to You-Know-Who?” you asked.

“Some say he died. Codswallop in my opinion. Nope, I reckon he's out there, still, too tired to go on. But one thing's absolutely certain. Something about you stumped him that night. That's why you're famous, Harry. That's why everybody knows your name. You're the boy who lived.  And (y/n), you’ve been his closest friend since then, so people know you just as much as he!”


	5. 5

The next day Hagrid took you to the train station to board the train to Hogwarts. You and Harry both pushed a cart with your trunks and owls, and you occasionally stopped to look around in awe at the large station. As you walked, a couple stared at Hagrid as you all passed, and Hagrid glared at them.  
“Blimey,” he said looking at his watch after the couple hurried off, “is that the time?? Sorry, you two, I'm gonna have to leave you. Dumbledore'll be wanting his...well, he'll be wanting to see me. Now, uh, your train leaves in 10 minutes. Here're your tickets. Stick to it, that's very important. Stick to your ticket.”  
Hagrid bounded off, leaving you and Harry standing alone with your golden tickets. Harry looked down at his, and read the platform number out loud. “Platform 9 ¾? But Hagrid, there must be a mistake. This says Platform 9 ¾. There's no such thing...is there?” Harry asked, but Hagrid was already gone. You looked down at your ticket too, just as confused, and began walking off in search of your platform. As you both walked, you spotted a trainmaster and Harry stopped him.  
“Excuse me, Sir. Can you tell me where I might find Platform 9 ¾?”  
“9 ¾? Think you’re being funny, do ya?” he glared, then turned on his heel and left you and Harry standing hopeless in the middle of the bustling crowd. A woman, her daughter, and four sons walked by, talking amongst themselves. You wouldn’t have paid them much attention, that is, if what they were saying hadn’t sounded so familiar.  
“It's the same year after year. Always packed with Muggles, of course,” the mother said.  
“Muggles?” you echoed, then tugged on Harry’s sleeve to get his attention. He looked at you confused, and you pointed at the large family. “Come on. Platform 9 ¾ this way! All right, Percy, you first.”  
Harry grinned and you rushed after them, following them to a seemingly normal brick pillar! A tall boy with red hair came forward and ran towards the pillar. Amazingly, he disappeared right into it! You and Harry watched on in amazement as two of the other boys did as well. Harry shyly caught her attention and said, “Excuse me! C-could you tell me how to- “  
“How to get on the platform? Yes, not to worry, dear. It's Ron's first time to Hogwarts as well,” she smiled and patted the last red haired boy next to her, “Now, all you've got to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms 9 and 10. Best do it at a bit of a run if you’re nervous.”  
“Good luck,” the woman’s daughter said, and you smiled at her. Harry went first, he took a deep breath in and sprinted at the wall, his eyes squeezed shut tightly. The red haired boy, Ron, went next, then it was your turn. You took a deep breath in as well, and ran towards the pillar, almost bracing yourself for impact. When none came, you opened your eyes and gasped! You were in a completely new platform! The sign on a nearby pillar read 9 ¾, and you grinned.  
Harry called out to you and you pushed your cart over to him. “Wasn’t that amazing!” you laughed. He beamed and agreed with you, both of your nerves bouncing all over the place as you looked around at all the witches and wizards scurrying around the platform. A shock of platinum blonde hair caught your eye and you turned your head to see the boy from Diagon Alley climbing onto the train. You smiled to yourself, hoping to have a few classes at Hogwarts with him.  
A trainmaster eventually came and helped you load your trunks onto the train, and you and Harry were soon walking down the halls of the train for some open seats. You were about to sit with Harry, the boy Ron from earlier, and a fluffy haired girl when someone else called out to you.  
“Hey! Over here!” they called. Wondering who they could be shouting at, you looked around and spotted the pale haired boy from earlier! You pointed at yourself and he nodded, a warm smile on his face. “You can sit with us if you’d like!” he said, and you picked up your things and walked over to his compartment.  
“You sure it won’t be a bother?” you asked quietly.  
“Of course!”  
He scooted over on his bench, and you settled down next to him. “My name’s Malfoy, by the way. Draco Malfoy,” Draco extended his pale hand and you shook it gently. “Dursley,” you replied, “(y/n) Dursley!” Across from you sat two larger boys, and you watched with slight disgust as they stuffed their faces with different assortments of candies and chocolates. Draco seemed to be rather disgusted with them as well as he introduced them to you. “This is Crabbe and Goyle,” he said, his nose slightly scrunched up. You smiled politely at them, but they barely even acknowledged you.  
The train started moving a few minutes later, so you pulled out your favorite book from your bag and began reading. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Draco watching you read, and you looked over at him. Noticing he was caught, his pale cheeks turned a lovely shade of red, and his eyes silvery eyes darted away. “Would you like to read with me?” you asked kindly.  
“Actually, if it isn’t too much to ask, could you maybe read it to me? I find it much more fun to listen to it then to actually read it.”  
“I’d be happy to!”  
You flipped back to the first page of your book, being sure to mark your place, and began reading. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to listen to you read at first, but lost interest eventually. Draco, however, listened to you intrigued as ever. When you were halfway through the book, a woman came by with a cart of sweets, and noticing how hungry you were, you bought a box of chocolates and occasionally nibbled at them while you read. It was the best thing you had ever tasted!  
You continued reading between chocolates, and eventually the lights in the train were flicked on since it had grown dark out. It was late too, you imagined, as Crabbe and Goyle had long ago fallen asleep, and Draco looked as if he were about to do the same. His head bobbed every once in a while, and he was struggling to watch you through heavy lidded eyes, so you weren’t surprised when you felt a weight fall onto your shoulder. You looked over and smiled, Draco had finally fallen asleep too, and you felt the strong urge to do the same. Eventually, you gave in and you fell asleep as well, your head lolling to the side and resting on Draco’s.  
You, Draco, and the other two boys were awoken a few hours later by a sharp knocking at your compartment door, and you sat up, completely disoriented.  
“Are we there already?” Draco asked sleepily.  
“Yes, I suppose so,” you yawned. You looked outside and noticed that it was raining. You groaned and got up, bidding farewell to Draco and joining Harry and his new friends outside.  
“Right, then! First years! This way, please! Come on, now, don't be shy! Come on now, hurry up!” Hagrid shouted, pointing the first years in the direction of the docks. “Hello, Harry and (y/n)!” he smiled at you as you walked by.  
“Hey, Hagrid!” you and Harry said in unison.  
Ron stared up at him in awe as you passed and his mouth hung open in scared fascination at the size of your friend.  
“Right then. This way to the boats! Come on, now, follow me.”  
A number of boats plugged across a vast lake, where up ahead a huge castle stood ominously. You stared up at it in awe, and a shiver went down your spine. This was your new school! Your new home! No more Dudley, or Petunia, or Vernon until summer! The thought thrilled you. Behind you, you heard Ron say under his breath, “Wicked,” and you silently agreed with him. Wicked indeed!  
Once you all were lead off the boats and inside, you were told to wait for the Deputy Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, to greet you on the stairs. Finally, a tall, sharp, and thin looking woman rapped her fingers on the stone rail at the top of the stairs and greeted you all.  
“Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Now, while you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup.”  
A boy standing at the front of the crowd spotted his frog sitting by the professor’s feet, and jumped forward to grab him, earning him a hard glare. He apologized and backed into the crowd, red from the giggles coming from some of the students. Professor turned her attention back to the students and said, “The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily.” She then turned on her heel and left.  
You stood behind a little ways behind Harry, lost in thought until you heard a familiar voice speak. “It's true then, what they're saying on the train Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts?” It was Draco! He sounded very pompous though, not like the boy you had met on the train. Some of the other students began whispering when they heard your cousin’s name, and you shrank back into the crowd. You didn’t want to be part of this attention.  
“This is Crabbe, and Goyle, and I'm Malfoy...Draco Malfoy.” Yup, it was the same boy, he sounded so mean though. Ron snickered at his name, and you knew immediately that he had made a mistake. “Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask yours. Red hair, and a hand me down robe? You must be a Weasley. Well soon find that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. Don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.”  
“I think I can tell who the wrong sorts are for myself, thanks,” Harry replied. Draco made an angry sounding huff, and you prayed he wouldn’t see you. Luck wasn’t on your side, however.  
“(Y/n)? Is that you?” he asked, he almost sounded kind again.  
“Hey Malfoy,” you said quietly. He didn’t have time to say anything else though, because Prof. McGonagall returned and smacked him with a paper. You held back a giggle as he turned back around, slightly embarrassed. “We're ready for you now,” she said, and lead everyone into the large dining hall. As you walked in, you stared at the ceiling in amazement; candles floated elegantly in the air, and the ceiling appeared to be the sky! It was amazing!  
“It's not real, the ceiling. It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History,” you heard one of Harry’s new friends, the girl, say. Prof. McGonagall stopped you all when she saw that everyone had made it in and said so that all the students, “All right, will you wait along here, please? Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbldedore would like to say a few words.”  
A tall, older man with a long beard stood up and began speaking in a loud and commanding voice. “I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. The first years please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch,” he gestured to a seedy looking man with a cat, “has asked me to remind you that the 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you.”  
Your mouth fell open at the last tip, and you looked at the other first years who seemed just as shocked. Prof. McGonagall stepped back up and commanded attention from the first years again. “When I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Hermione Granger.”  
Harry’s friend, Hermione, stood up and took a deep breath to calm herself down, then walked up and waited to see which house she’d be sorted into. The hat, a scruffy and frayed looking piece of fabric, seemed to know what house she belonged in almost instantly, and shouted Gryffindor after a few seconds. The Gryffindor table cheered and welcomed her as she sat down with them.  
“Draco Malfoy.”  
You watched as Draco sauntered up to the professor, and waited for the hat to be placed on his head. Before it even touched him, however, the tattered hat freaked before touching down on Draco’s head!  
“Slytherin!” it shouted, and the Slytherin table cheered loudly.  
“There isn't a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin,” Ron whispered. You hoped that wasn’t true, despite the little act he put on earlier, you still liked him.  
More students were called as you waited to go up. While you stood patiently, you saw Harry turn and see someone. A look of pain flickered across his face and he rubbed his scar. “Harry, what is it?” you asked, concerned about your cousin. He looked at you and said it was nothing, but you knew better. You left it alone though, you knew Harry like to keep some things private. “Ronald Weasley.”  
Ron gulped and walked up to the hat nervously, and waited for it to sort him. “Ah! Another Weasley. I know just where to put you...Gryffindor!!”  
Ron seemed to sigh with relief, and the Gryffindor table erupted into cheers again. “(Y/n) Dursley.” You jumped at the sudden calling of your name, and quickly made your way up to the hat. It settled itself on your head and you squirmed nervously. “Calm down child, I can’t place you if you keep squirming.”  
“A-alright.” You stopped fidgeting and calmed yourself. The hat seemed to think for a moment, then abruptly shouted, “Hufflepuff!”

Your table cheered and you beamed as you joined them.  You couldn’t help but look over at Draco as you walked over to your table.  He seemed a bit disappointed, probably because you weren’t in the same house, but he smiled when he noticed you looking at him.  You smiled back, but were quickly caught up in the excitement from your new housemates to pay any more attention to him.  Some of them patted you on the back as you sat down.  A boy about two years older than you stuck out his hand.  “Cedric Diggory,” he said, grinning, “So happy to have you in our house!  We’ve heard a lot about you.”

“(Y/n) Dursley!” you responded, shaking his hand, “Although clearly you already know that!”  Cedric chuckled and nodded.

“If you need any help at all, don’t hesitate to let me or anyone else here know!  I’m sure we’d all be happy to help in any way we can!”

“Thank you very much!”

Harry was called up next, and he and the hat seemed to have a small debate until the hat finally made a decision.  “Gryffindor!” it shouted.  The table cheered even louder this time, and welcomed him with open arms into their house.  You were happy to see that Harry was placed there, he definitely seemed to like the people there more than he did for the other houses, except for you of course.  You were a little upset that you weren’t in the same house as him or Draco, but oh well.  You were happy here as well!

After everyone had been sorted, Dumbledore began the feast and cheers erupted from the students again.  Plates, trays, and every dish in between appeared before you, each one filled with wonderful looking food!  Your eyes grew wide, and you felt yourself becoming overwhelmed with the sight of so much to eat!  Deciding not to stuff yourself silly, you picked out a few of the foods you wanted and dug in.  If you wanted more, you’d get more, but better to start off slow.

There was a startled scream from across the room and you looked up.  What looked like ghosts began coming through the walls, floor, even tables and scaring unsuspecting children!  Cedric laughed as one popped her head out of the table and grinned at a few of the startled first years.  “What the…?” you said, your voice failing you as you watched them all.

“It’s alright, they’re harmless!” Cedric said, “Just beware of Peeves the Poltergeist.  He pulls some nasty pranks.”

“Noted,” you managed to spit out.

After you had all stuffed yourselves, it was time to head up to your dorms.  Your house prefect led the way to your dorms, and you tried to keep track of all the twists and turns to get to it, but found yourself becoming utterly turned around, so you eventually gave up.  Your group finally stopped in front of a large portrait of a woman, and your prefect told her the password.  The painted woman smiled and revealed the door to your dorms, and you all walked in. 

The Hufflepuff common room was amazing!  It was warm, roomy, and welcoming, and you felt yourself beginning to consider this home.  It was certainly better than your house with the Dursleys!  “Girls that way, boys the other!” your prefect said, and you followed the rest of the girls to your rooms.  Once you found yours, you were delighted to see that your trunk and Soren were already by your bed!  “Hey Soren!” you cooed, and opened her cage.  Soren flew out gracefully and perched on the end of your bed, preening her feathers.  You crawled across your bed towards her and gently stroked her sleek wings.

She hooted at you happily and lovingly nipped your hand.  You giggled and stroked the underside of her beak.  She nipped you again and you took your hand away, rubbing it slightly.  You turned and opened the window near your bed for her, in case she wanted to go out during the night.  She flew out a few minutes later, leaving you with the other girls in your room.  You grabbed your schedule off your nightstand and looked over it.  Most Hufflepuffs had almost no classes with Gryffindors, however, due to your connection with Harry, you were placed in most of the same classes as him.  This included Potions with Prof. Snape, Flying Practice with Prof. Hooch, and Defense Against the Dark Arts with Prof. Quirrell, the man from the inn!


	6. 6

The next day, you walked to your found your way to your classes thanks to a map Cedric had given you during breakfast. You had wished that you could have sat with Harry and his new friends, but you weren’t too upset about it since the people you sat with were friendly and sociable. Cedric especially! You and him had grown close since dinner the previous night. Despite knowing him for less than two days, you already considered him a brother, and it seemed he considered you a sister!  
Your first class, herbology, went by smoothly. No particularly violent plants lashed out at you, and you managed to successfully pot a plant with minimal effort. Your next class was Potions with Prof. Snape. You had heard he was a tough teacher from other students who’d had him, but you weren’t deterred. Harry was there anyway, so it wouldn’t be too bad. You walked in and were happy to see that not only Harry was here, but Draco as well! Draco grinned as you walked in, and waved you over. You smiled back and skipped over to him, much to Harry’s dismay. You knew he’d be fine though, he had his new friends Ron and Hermione to keep him company.  
As you sat down, you couldn’t help but notice all the steaming cauldrons and bubbling potions. It was strangely cold as well, and you found yourself pulling your school robes tighter around you to try to warm up. “Cold?” Draco asked, you could’ve sworn you’d seen his breath.  
“A bit, yeah,” you smiled awkwardly.  
“Here, take my robe!” Draco slipped off his robe and began handing it to you, but you pushed it back to him. “I couldn’t, then you’d be cold! I’ll be fine, it’s not unbearable.” Draco shrugged and slipped his robe back on.  
Snape walked in a few minutes later, slamming the door closed behind him and making you jump. He was a cruel looking man, with black hair, a hooked nose, and permanently narrowed eyes which gave off the impression that he was always suspicious of anyone’s actions. Not in a paranoid way, but in a rather demeaning way. “There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to enjoy the subtle science and exact art that is potion making. However, for those select few,” he drawled, and out of the corner of your eye you noticed Draco smile, “who possess the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death.”  
You raised your eyebrows. Was that possible? A few seats away, Harry wrote down everything Snape was saying, but to the Professor’s view, it must have seemed that he wasn’t paying attention because Snape was glaring at your cousin in an instant. “Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not...pay...attention.”  
Hermione nudged him and he looked up. “Mr. Potter. Our...new...celebrity,” Snape hissed, “and cousin.” He sent a disgusted look your way and you suddenly want to curl into your robes and disappear. Your cheeks flushed as Draco looked at you with a look of astonishment. “I didn’t know they wanted Mr. Potter’s Hufflepuff security blanket following him around,” Snape said, and your cheeks became redder. Finally, he turned his attention back to Harry and continued berating him. “Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”  
Hermione’s hand shot up, but Harry only shrugged, looking redder and redder by the minute. “You don't know? Well, let's try again. Where, Mr. Potter, would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?” Hermione’s hand skyrocketed again, but Snape ignored her.  
“I don't know, Sir,” Harry replied quietly.  
“And what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfbane?”  
“I don't know, Sir.”  
“Pity. Clearly, fame isn't everything, is it, Mr. Potter?”  
The rest of the class seemed to drag by, and you tried your best to make it obvious that you were writing notes so that Snape wouldn’t harp on you the way he had Harry. Draco occasionally shot glances at you, and each time he did, your ears turned pink. Finally, after what felt like years of uncomfortable waiting, class was over and you dashed out of the room. “(Y/n)!” someone called out, and you were expecting it to be Harry, but were surprised to see Draco jogging to keep up with you.  
“Draco!” you said, startled to see him trying to catch up with you.  
“I had no idea you were Potter’s cousin!” he said through breaths.  
“Yes, well, I didn’t think it was very important, and I saw that you two don’t get along very well so I said nothing.”  
“Oh, right, forgot you were there,” he said, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink, “Can I see your schedule? I want to know if we have any other classes together.”  
“Sure!” you handed him your schedule and he compared it to his. “We have flying practice after next class, and Defense against the dark arts together tomorrow!” he cheered.  
“We do?” you grinned, looking at both of your schedules. “Yes! See you then?”  
“Of course!”  
He grinned at you, then bid you farewell and wandered off down the hall to his next class. You looked back down at your schedule to see what class you had next. Charms. Since you had no idea where that was, you pulled out the map Cedric had given you, and looked for it. When you found it, you followed the path that seemed quickest to your class and arrived just as the door opened. This class went smoother than the last, and even smoother than herbology since there were no plants that had a strange appetite for young students.  
While in Charms, you overheard several students talking about a familiar family name. Malfoy. None of them were good things either, and you tried your best to keep your mouth shut from defending your rather pompous friend.  
Then the end of the day came and you walked down to your common room to do your homework. You sat down at a small table across from Cedric and laid your head down with a loud sigh. “Long day?” he asked, not looking up from his homework.  
“You could say that,” you groaned.  
“They did give you a lot of Gryffindor and Slytherin classes, so I don’t expect some of the teachers are too excited about having a Hufflepuff student in their class. Which one did you have today?”  
“Snape.”  
“Oh, that’s a bad one!”  
“I know, he told everyone my relation to Harry, and my house! Not in a nice way either.” You rolled your head to the side and looked up at Cedric.  
“Low blow!” he hissed, as if feeling your pain.  
“I know. He already hates Harry too, and he didn’t even do anything wrong!”  
“That’s Snape for you. He’s the Slytherin housemaster, he hates Gryffindors.”  
“Hufflepuffs too, apparently.”  
“Yeah, he thinks the lot of us are pushovers.”  
You hummed in response and got your homework out. Even though it was the first day of school, you had a surprising amount of homework! Occasionally you asked Cedric for help while you worked, but for the most part you were able to understand your assignments. Eventually dinner came and you and Cedric happily left your homework to go down to the great hall.  
As you walked, a familiar voice called out your name, and you turned around. “Hey Draco!” you beamed as the Slytherin boy ran up to you. “How has your day been since we last met?” he asked, ignoring Cedric.  
“Decent. A few girls in my Charms class made me a bit angry but otherwise it was good!”  
“Oh? What happened?”  
“They were,” you thought for a moment, then decided not to tell Draco about what the girls were saying about him and his family. “It was nothing. They were just speaking ill about someone I like.”  
“Oh, alright.” You two chatted a bit more until he seemed to notice Cedric walking alongside you, and ran off to find Crabbe and Goyle. “Bye Draco, see you tomorrow!”  
“Bye (y/n)!” he said curtly, and disappeared into the crowd of students. “Odd,” you said, “he doesn’t usually act like that around me.”  
“What’s odder is that he even talks to you!” Cedric commented, his eyes wide.  
“What do you mean?”  
“That’s Draco Malfoy! Son of Lucius Malfoy! His father has the entire Ministry of Magic in his pocket, and he’s known for being a cruel and ruthless brute! He hates muggle born witches and wizards with a burning passion.”  
“O-oh,” you said, suddenly understanding why those girls had spoken so rudely about him.  
“And yet, here you are, muggle born and Hufflepuff, with the Slytherin prince wrapped around your finger!” Cedric grinned.  
“What?” you scoffed  
“Please, did you see the way he looked at you? I could have gagged!”  
“You’re blind if that’s what you saw!” you laughed as you sat down at your table. Cedric hopped over to the other side and sat on the seat in front of you. “You better watch yourself (f/n)” Cedric teased.  
“For what?”  
“You know exactly what!”  
You rolled your eyes and decided to eat instead of keep up with Cedric’s teasing.


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YIKES I'm seeing Endgame tomorrow and I am NOT okay

 

The rest of the night went by a bit better after Cedric stopped teasing you and began eating instead.  He occasionally waggled his eyebrows at you whenever he noticed Draco glancing at you, but every time he did you rolled your eyes and stuck your tongue out at him.

“Honestly Cedric, you can’t truly be that dull to see that!  We’re just friends!  In fact, we’ve only known each other for two days so I don’t even know if we can be considered any more than acquaintances,” you said after dinner as you walked with him back to the dorms.

“I wouldn’t be too sure!” he snickered, poking your side.  You smacked his hand away and shot him a playful glare.  “What do you have tomorrow?” he asked after calming down.

“Flying practice and Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

“Oh, is little mister Malfoy in those as well?”

Your cheeks heated up and you whirled on him.  “He is, in fact, and if you don’t stop teasing me I’ll hex you as soon as I learn how to!”

It was an empty threat, but it got the point across.  “Alright, alright.  I’ll stop.  Sorry for upsetting you,” Cedric said, though there was still a small grin on his face.

“You’re forgiven,” you huffed.  You bid each other goodnight as you went to your separated dorms, and you flopped on your bed as soon as you walked in.  “Tough day?” one of the second year girls asked.

“Yes,” you sighed, your pillow muffling your response.  You looked up as Soren hopped onto the head of your bed, and you smiled up at her.  She cooed at you and you sat up.  “Hey Soren,” you said as you stroked her feathers.  She stretched and spread her wings and you gently ran a finger down the long, elegant feathers on them.  Apparently she didn’t care for that however, and gave you a light nip as if to say stop.  You did and gave her a few treats that you kept on your bedside table.  She happily accepted them, and after she finished her snack, flew through your open window and into the night.

Moring came faster than you’d hoped, and you groggily rolled out of bed and changed.  “Morning sleepyhead,” Cedric greeted as you stumbled down the stairs and into the common room.

“Morning,” you grumbled, falling into a nearby sofa.

“Don’t fall asleep, we’re about to head down to breakfast!” he said, leaning against the back of the sofa.

“But Cedric,” you whined, “it’s so early!”

“No it’s not.”

“It feels early.”

You sat up and rolled off the sofa as gracefully as you could, making Cedric laugh as you stood up and joined his side.  “Come on, let’s go,” he chuckled, guiding you out the door.  You sluggishly followed him down to the great hall, where you instantly perked up to the smell of wonderful foods.  You sat down across from Cedric as usual and piled your plate with jam covered toast, fluffy scrambled eggs, and bacon.

You hummed with delight as you forked a bit of the eggs in delight, and quickly wolfed down the rest of them.  “Slow down,” Cedric said, “you’ll give yourself hiccups if you eat too fast!”

You slowed down a bit, but still ate your food rather quickly, and finished before it was time to go to class.  Since you finished so fast, you decided to pester your friend as payback for his little comments last night.  He glared halfheartedly at you, but said nothing since his mouth was full.

Eventually you two had to part ways and go to class.  You ran outside to Madam Hooch’s class, and beamed at Harry as he waved you over.  Brooms were lined up on the ground in front of the students, and you ran over to one next to Harry, “Hi Harry!”  Hermione and Ron greeted you too.

“Oh!  Hello to you too!” you grinned!

“How come you sat with Malfoy yesterday?” Harry asked, he still seemed a bit hurt.

“Well because he and I are good acquaintances?” you said, though it came out as more of a question.  You knew Harry didn’t like him after what happened your first night here.

“Was he horrible to you?  He must have been,” Ron commented.

“No, he wasn’t!”

“Shush!  Here he comes!” Hermione hissed.  You couldn’t help but smile as he sauntered over.  However, as soon as you saw him, you knew it was the mean Draco.  “Oh dear,” you sighed, your shoulders slumping.

Before he said anything though, Madam Hooch came out and called for everyone’s attention.  She was a tall woman with short hair and hawk-like eyes.  “Good afternoon, class.”

“Good afternoon, Madam Hooch,” everyone responded.

“Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Come on now, hurry up. Stick your right hand over the broom and say, Up!”

Once her short introduction was finished, you stuck out your hand and said, “Up!”  Your broom flew up to your hand in an instant and you grinned.  You locked eyes with Draco for a moment, and he smiled genuinely at you.  It seemed that only you got to see the real him.

Hermione and Ron were having a bit of trouble with their brooms though, and while Ron did eventually get his broom up, it flew too high and hit him in the nose!  “Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it. And grip it tight, you don't want to be sliding off the end.”

You mounted your broom and held on until your knuckles turned white!  “When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, and then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle...3...2...” Madam hooch blew her whistle with a loud _tweet!_   You kicked off the ground as hard as you could and touched down gently after a few seconds of hovering!  You laughed joyously, and glanced up at Draco, who was making his way down.

“That was amazing!” he said, and you agreed.  One boy, Neville, however, was having trouble with his broom.  He flew off the ground and looked quite frightened on his broom!  “Oh!” he said, wobbling a bit.

“Mr. Longbottom!” Madam Hooch called out.

“Neville, what are you doing?” you called out, worried for your classmate.

The class was now chanting his name, as if hoping he’d do a trick!  “We're not supposed to take off, yet!” one boy pointed out.

Madam Hooch panicked as he drifted higher and higher off the ground, “M-M-Mr. Longbottom Mr. Longbottom!”

Neville cried out in terror, and Madam Hooch called after him again as he began soaring away!  “Down! Down! Ahhhh!” he commanded his broom, but it wouldn’t go down.  “Neville!” you shouted, following after him on the ground.

“Help!”

“Come back down this instant!” Madam Hooch demanded, but he couldn’t!  He had lost complete control over his broom, and was now flying wildly around the grounds.  He crashed into a wall a few minutes later, then turned and began flying towards you and the other students!  You, unfortunately, were in his direct line of flight.  Your eyes widened and you turned and ran ahead of him.  As you looked back at him, you failed to see where you were going and crashed right into someone.  The two of you tumbled to the ground in a heap and your hands flew to your head as Neville soared mere inches away from it!

You sat up and watched as Neville’s broom flew up again towards a large statue holding a _very_ sharp spear.  “Neville!” you cried out as his cloak caught on the spear, leaving him hanging a few meters off the ground.  You pushed yourself off the person below you and ran to the boy’s aid.  His cloak tore a bit, and he fell a few feet and got caught on a torch, then fell to the ground with a loud thud.

You ran to his side with Madam Hooch right on your heels.  “Is he okay?” you asked, helping her sit him up.  He let out a series of pitiful ows, and you hissed at the sight of his wrist.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh dear. It's a broken wrist. Tch, tch, tch. Good boy, come on now, up you get,” she said, and the two of you helped him up, “Everyone's to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. Understand? If I see a single broom in the air, the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say, Quidditch.  (Y/n) dear you stay here, you’ve helped enough.”

“Yes Madam Hooch.”

You watched them go, then turned to see Draco picking himself off the ground and dusting off his robes.  “Sorry for running into you Draco,” you said, helping clean off his robes.

“It’s alright,” he said quietly, as if not wanting to be heard.  He bent down and picked something up, then smiled maliciously as he held it up in front of him.  “Did you see his face? Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to fall on his fat ass,” he snickered, then looked up at you as if expecting you to find it as funny as he did.

“Is that Neville’s?” you asked, wary of his sudden change in attitude.

“Give it here Malfoy,” Harry spoke up, standing by your side.

“No. I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find.”  He hopped on his broom and flew through your group, then off to the roof.  “How 'bout up on the roof?” he called.

“Draco come down!” you shouted at him, but he ignored you.  “What's the matter, Potter? Bit beyond your reach?”

Harry grabbed his broom and began running to hop on it.  As he ran past you, you grabbed his broom and forced him to a stop.  “Harry, no! You heard what Madam Hooch said! Besides, you don't even know how to fly,” you warned, but he ignored you.  He hopped on his broom and flew after Draco.  “What an idiot,” you said under your breath as you watched him chase after Draco.

“Give it here, Malfoy, or I'll knock you off your broom!” he shouted.

“Is that so?”

Harry made a dash for him, but Draco just narrowly avoided him.  “Have it your way, then!”

Draco threw the small ball into the air and flew off back to you, laughing evilly.  Harry flew after it, speeding towards a tower.  To your utter amazement and relief, he caught it just before he hit the tower, and flew back towards you all!  Everyone cheered and ran to see him as he landed, and Draco, who was now standing next to you, looked quite peeved that Harry had successfully gotten the clear ball. 

However, you couldn’t celebrate for too long, as Prof.  McGonagall appeared suddenly on the grounds.  “Harry Potter? Follow me.”

Harry’s face fell and he followed her away sullenly after handing you the small ball.  Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle laughed as he left, and you shot him a glare.  He noticed your frustration with him, and his grin fell slightly.  He hadn’t meant to upset you.  You walked off briskly to find Neville’s broom and to get away from Draco for bit.  Unfortunately for you, he followed you, trying to keep up as you walked quickly. 

You found his broom laying lifeless a few meters away from the golden statue he had gotten caught on and gingerly picked it up, making sure it wouldn’t take off with you holding onto it.  When you turned around, Draco was there to meet you.  “(Y/n) wait!” he said as you tried to move past him.

“What Draco?” you asked tersely.

“I’m sorry I upset you, really I am!”

“That stunt you pulled wasn’t funny!  I was worried about you, and worried about Harry, and – “

“Why do you care about Potter so much?” he scoffed, he sounded a bit jealous!  You gaped at him in shock and almost dropped Neville’s broom.

“He’s my cousin!”

“And his mother’s a mudbl- a half breed!”

You grabbed Draco’s cloak and dragged him aside where the others wouldn’t hear him.  You had to tell him you were muggle born.  He likely wouldn’t want to be around you anymore, but you had to tell him.

“What?” he said quietly, his eyes filled with confusion.

“I honestly don’t know how you haven’t figured it out yet,” you hissed.

“Figured out what?”

“I’m a muggle born you twit!”


	8. 8

Draco’s eyes widened and he took a step back.  “Y-you’re a what?”

“A muggle born witch, Draco.  I know how you feel about them, so I understand if you hate me, but I had to tell you.  It’s unfair that you treat Harry so horribly and you treat me like the best person in the world.  He and I are equals, so we are to be treated as such.”

Draco swallowed hard and looked at the ground.  He looked betrayed.  “How come you didn’t tell me on the train?”

“Because I had no idea you hated ‘my kind’.  Nor did I have any idea who your family was.”

Draco nodded and looked back up at you, his silver eyes gleaming.  “I don’t want to lose you as a friend, no matter what your blood is.  We’ll have to keep that secret from my father though, in case he ever finds out.”

Your eyes lit up, was Draco really going to push aside his feelings about half bloods and muggle borns for you?

“Really?” you asked.

Draco nodded and smiled, and you pulled him into a quick hug.  Once you two broke the hug, you made your way back to the rest of your class.  Madam Hooch came back a few minutes later without Neville and finished practice with much easier exercises.  Harry never joined you all, however, and you all were dismissed without him. 

You and Draco walked to dinner with each other after school was over, but went your separate ways as you entered the great hall.  Cedric met you as you entered, and together you walked over to your tables.  “So, anything exciting happen so far?” your friend asked as he piled food onto his plate.

“Yes!  How on earth do you all manage magic so well?  Even flying a broom was problematic!”

“What do you mean?  Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but my classmate Neville Longbottom isn’t!  His broom went crazy and he broke his arm!”

“Goodness!”

“And not only that, but Draco and Harry got into a fight after Draco started being an ass.”

“(Y/n) do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Cedric teased.

“I don’t kiss my mother period,” you rolled your eyes.

“Anyway, so what happened with Draco?”

“A little ball had fallen from his pocket after his broom took off with him, and Draco started making fun of him and took it.”

“Do you still have it?”

Your eyes lit up and you nodded vigorously, pulling the small item out of your pocket and handing it to Cedric.  “A remembrall!” he exclaimed, turning the ball around in his hands.

“What is it?”

“If the smoke inside it turns red, it means you’ve forgotten something.”

“Oh!  Sounds really useful.  I’ll return it to him later after dinner.”

“Good idea.”

“How about you?  Anything exciting?”

Cedric thought for a moment before launching into a story about how the potions teacher was nearly burnt to a crisp after a student brewed his potion incorrectly.  You tried not to laugh with a mouthful a food as he told you this tale, but it was very hard!

The next few days went by rather uneventfully.  You had a few classes with Draco, and when you didn’t see him in class, you spoke in the halls between classes.  Prof. Snape nearly caught you a few times, but you successfully evaded him before he could reprimand you both.  One day, however, while walking to class after lunch, Hermione brushed past you without saying hello.  You realized as she began walking away, that she was crying!  You caught her wrist and pulled her back to you, a worried expression on your face.

“Hermione what’s happened?” you asked quietly, pulling her to the side of the hall.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she sniffed pitifully.

“Bottling it up won’t help.”

Hermione looked at you helplessly, her lip wobbling.  Then she started pulling you towards the girls’ lavatory to speak in private.  “Now, what’s going on?” you repeated.  Hermione calmed herself down and began telling you how she had corrected Ron in class, and he didn’t take it too well.

“A-and he said…h-he said… ‘Honestly, she’s a nightmare!  No wonder she hasn’t got any friends.’”

“But I thought he and Harry were your friends!”

“That’s what I thought too!” she wailed, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she buried her face in her hands.  You gingerly pulled her into a hug and pulled her bushy hair out of her face as she cried into your shoulder.  “There, there,” you said, rubbing comforting circles on her back, “forget about Ron!  He’s a fool if he doesn’t want to be your friend.  Personally I’d die to have you as one!”

“R-really?”

“Yes!  You’re so smart and brave!  Pretty too.”

“Thank you (y/n).”  She seemed to be feeling better when another wave of tears proved otherwise.  “It’s not just him that’s been bothering me though,” she cried, “These horrible Slytherins have been tormenting me relentlessly!  Calling me nasty things, all because my parents are muggles.”

“What?  Who?”

“It’s mostly that Malfoy boy, he’s the worst one!”

Your heart sank as he said that, and you inwardly sighed.  There he went again, being a hypocrite and treating you wonderfully and your cousin and his friends like dirt.  _Really Draco?_ you mentally groaned.  You and Hermione sat in the lavatory for what was probably hours as she told you all about the horrors of the people who had been bullying her, the complete change in her life after being admitted here, and the effect it was having on her.  She was unbearably overwhelmed, and the relentless teasing from Draco and his friends and Ron’s anger towards her was taking a toll.

“Well, if it makes you feel better I’ll talk to Draco and see if he’ll lay off.”

“How?  He doesn’t like people like us!”

“Yes, well, he seems to make an exception for me.”

She hummed in response, and it seemed that she had finally calmed down.  “It’s probably almost dinner,” you said as your stomach grumbled.

“You’re probably right.  Let me use the toilet quickly and we’ll head down to the Great Hall,” she said, getting up.  You nodded and stood up as well.  You leaned against a sink while you waited for her to finish, and as you did, you could hear what sounded like huge footsteps making their way towards the room.  Your heartbeat spiked as a huge, grotesque, humanoid creature with a club lumbered in through the door.

“H-Hermione,” you squeaked quietly as you backed away from the creature.  Hermione came out of her stall and noticed your horrified look, then turned to see the huge monster.  It swung its club at the two of you, and you screamed and ducked for cover.  Hermione dove for the stalls, and you hid under the sinks.  It ran its large club through the stalls, and Hermione screamed in terror!

Ron and Harry burst through the bathroom door a few seconds later, and Harry shouted, “Hermione, (y/n), move!”

Hermione made a move to escape, but the troll smashed through the rest of the stalls, and she stopped for fear of being caught!

“Help!  Help!” she cried out.  The boys picked up pieces of the broken stalls and began throwing them at the monster, trying to get its attention.  While it was distracted, Hermione scrambled away from you and the two of you began crawling towards Ron and Harry under the sinks.  However, it spotted you and swung the club not a foot from your face!

The club smashed through the sink in front of you, just barely missing your head, and you screamed and ducked away.  Harry whipped out his wand and ran towards the monster, grabbing its club as if that’d stop it.  It didn’t of course, and he was only lifted up with it.

He fell on the giant’s head, and out of surprise and confusion, it began whipping its head around to get your cousin off of its shoulders!  Harry held on for dear life, and in doing so, accidentally caught his wand in the monster’s nose!  The troll snorted and whipped around again, and managed to fling Harry from its shoulders.

It held your cousin upside down with one leg, and you watched in horror as it held its club up high to hit him!  It swung the massive weapon, but Harry pulled himself up, just narrowly avoiding getting killed!

“Do something!” he shouted.

“What?” Ron shouted as Harry dodged another swing.

“Anything!”

Ron pulled out his wand, and out of the corner of your eye, you saw Hermione do the same, and mouth, ‘swish and flick!’  Ron nodded, and did what she said.  “Wingardium Leviosa!”  he shouted, and to your amazement, it was lifted from the troll’s grasp!  The beast looked up in confusion just as the club came crashing down!  It hit the monster’s head, hard, and it wavered for a minute before crashing down.  Harry escaped its grasp and scrambled away from it.

You hopped out of you hiding place warily, and eyed the huge creature.  “Is it… dead?” you asked quietly.

“I don't think so. Just knocked out,” Harry said, pulling his wand out of its nose with disgust, “Ew. Troll bogies!”

Suddenly, McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell came rushing in and surveyed the destruction round you all, and finally the huge troll unconscious on the ground beside you.

“Oh! Oh, my goodness! E-Explain yourselves, both of you!” she shouted at the boys.

They began trying to explain what had happened, when Hermione spoke up.  “It's my fault, Professor McGonagall.”

All of you gaped at her, what was she talking about?!  “Ms. Granger?” Prof. McGonagall exclaimed in disbelief. 

“I went looking for the troll. I'd read about them and thought I could handle it. But I was wrong. If Harry and Ron hadn't come and found me...I'd probably be dead.  I tried to escape to the bathroom, and accidentally dragged (y/n) into all of this as well.  I’m terribly sorry (y/n)!”

Your mouth fell open.  You tried to form the words to protest and defend her, but nothing came out.  “Be that as it may...it was an extremely foolish thing to do,” Prof. McGonagall said, “I would have expected more rational behaviour on your part, Ms. Granger. 5 points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgment. As for you two gentlemen I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. Not many students could take on a full grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. 5 points...will be awarded to each of you. For sheer dumb luck.”

“Perhaps you ought to go...M-might wake up...heh,” Prof. Quirrell said nervously.  The troll growled and he jumped and scurried after you.  You all parted ways in the hall and you walked down to your dorm, excited to get some sleep.  That troll incident had taken a surprising amount energy from you, and you were exhausted!

The common room was alive with excitement as you walked in, and everyone turned to stare at you when you entered.  You were covered from head to toe with dust, part of your robes were soaked with water from when the troll had smashed the sinks, and there was a rather large cut on your forehead that you’d failed to notice.  There were little pieces of stone caught in your hair as well, which looked wild and disheveled.  Someone pushed their way to the front of the crowd and stopped when they saw you, Cedric.

“(Y/n)!  Are you okay?!  You weren’t at the table when we heard about the troll and we were worried!”

“Yeah, about that,” you said awkwardly.  Cedric sat you down on the sofa as you told them what had happened.   You reassured them you were fine when you finished, but they still managed to convince you to see Madam Pompfrey the next morning.  You agreed, and finally you went upstairs and collapsed on your bed, not bothering to change.  It had been a horribly long day.


	9. 9

The next morning you woke up feeling sore and achy.  Your head was pounding and the cut on your head didn’t help.  One of the girls suggested you take a hot shower, so you grabbed a clean uniform from your trunk and walked down to the bathroom the girls shared, and took a nice hot shower.  The warm water did wonders to your sore muscles, and you felt loads better when you climbed out!

Cedric was waiting for you in the common room when you came downstairs, and you plopped down into an armchair with a deep sigh as he walked over to you.  “How are you feeling?” he asked quietly.

“Good, considering I was attacked by a troll twelve hours ago!” you laughed.  He chuckled and ruffled your hair playfully.  You swatted his hand away and hopped up from the chair as everyone began heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast.  You and Cedric talked about the troll incident again while you walked down.  It still unnerved him at how easily the Troll had gotten in.  “If Harry and Ron hadn’t been there, you could have gotten really injured!  Or worse!” he said.

“I know; I owe them a big thanks for that.  How did you all know about the troll though?”

“Prof. Quirrell came in screaming at the top of his lungs that there was a troll in the dungeons, then fainted!”

“Odd, Hermione and I were nowhere near the dungeons when it attacked us!”

“That is a bit strange, you’re right.”

You two sat down at your table in your usual spots in silence as the rest of the school chatted noisily about the events from last night, as well as an upcoming Quidditch tournament later that day.  Of course you were going to see it, Harry was competing in it, and the rest of the school was going to watch it so why not go?   When Breakfast was over, you told Cedric to go on without you when you noticed Draco making his way towards where you were standing.  “Draco!  What’s wrong?” you asked when you saw his worried expression.

“I heard about what happened!  Are you alright?” he asked, taking your face in his hands and gently turning it this way and that to make sure you were okay.  Butterflies fluttered in your stomach from the sudden contact, but you ignored them.

“Oh, yes I’m fine!  Just tired and sore is all,” you smiled.  His silver eyes become dark when he saw your cut, however.  He gingerly touched it with one finger, and you winced.  “Sorry,” he said, pulling his hand away.

“It’s fine!  I’m going to get it checked out by Madam Pompfrey though, to make sure it doesn’t get worse.”

“I can walk you there if you want!”

Your cheeks turned a light shade of pink, “Yeah, I’d like that!”

Draco smiled and lead the way to the infirmary, occasionally shooting dark looks to the cut on your head.  The infirmary was empty when you arrived, and Madam Pompfrey rushed over as soon as you walked in.

“Is there something wrong?” Madam Pompfrey asked.

“Yes, I was in the bathroom last night when the troll attacked, and I got a bit cut on my head.  My friends and I agreed that I should get it checked by you to make sure that it won’t get infected or anything.”

“I see!  Come right this way,” she said.  You noticed her look at Draco with a slight look of dread but she turned before he could see it.  You frowned slightly, but brushed it off.  You knew people didn’t like him, and you couldn’t change that.  Madam Pompfrey came back a few moments later with some bandages and some cleaning supplies.  She sat you in a nearby chair as she cleaned your cut, and you hissed in pain when she dabbed at it with some alcohol.  Tears pricked your eyes and Draco watched worriedly a few feet away.  After she was done cleaning it, Madam Pompfrey put the bandage on and sent you both on your way.

Later that afternoon, you and the rest of your house went out to see the Quidditch game with the rest of the school.  Cedric had explained all the rules and goals of the game to you earlier, and you had shivered nervously when he was done.  Around the field were towers with each house’s colours where the teachers sat while the rest of you sat in the bleachers below.  At each end of the stadium stood three ring shaped goals.  You sat down next to Cedric and waited in anticipation to see Harry and his team.

“Nervous for Harry?” Cedric shouted over the cheering.

“Yeah, a bit, the way you explained it made it sound rather brutal!”

Cedric laughed and patted you on the back.  You laughed as well, but it was more nervous, as despite Cedric’s positive attitude you stilled worried for your cousin.  A few minutes later, the crowd erupted into even louder cheering as the teams flew out above the field.  Harry looked even tinier compared to the other players, and even Cedric began looking a bit concerned. 

“Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season! Today's game Slytherin versus Gryffindor!!!” the commentator, Lee Jordan, shouted.  The players weaved amongst each other to get into their positions and waited for further instruction.   “The players take their positions as Madam Hooch steps out onto the field to begin the game.”

Madam Hooch came out and kicked open a trunk on the ground.  Two Bludgers flew out and began flying every which way, and you gulped nervously.  For inanimate objects, they looked terribly mean!  “The Bludgers are up...followed by the Golden Snitch. Remember, the snitch is worth 150 points. The seeker who catches the Snitch ends the game.”

A few moments later, Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle into the air and Lee shouted, “The Quaffle is released...and the game begins!”

Gryffindor took possession of the ball and a chaser zoomed past Slytherins towards their goal, threw the ball, and scored! A ding echoed across the field, and you cheered.  “Angelina Johnson scores! Ten points for Gryffindor!”  Lee pushed a button and a ten appeared beside Gryffindor’s name.

While Harry was celebrating their goal, he failed to notice a Bludger flying right towards him!  “Harry look out!” you shouted, standing up quickly.

He turned just in time to narrowly avoid being knocked off his broom by the ball as it zoomed by him.  You breathed a sigh of relief and slumped back in your seat.  “Slytherin takes possession of the Quaffle. Bletchley passes to Captain Marcus Flint.”

Flint dodged people and threw for the Gryffindor hoops, fortunately Oliver, Gryffindor’s captain, appeared almost out of nowhere and whacked the ball away with his broom. He smirked at Flint, who glared back at him angrily.   Two other players took the Quaffle moments later, and tossed it between each other as they flew towards the Slytherin end and scored!  You and Cedric cheered as the ten by Gryffindor’s name turned to a twenty.

The Slytherins were clearly getting frustrated, and their strategy became dirty.  They began dodging and kicking other players as they tried to score, but once again, Oliver Wood blocked their shot.  You watched as Flint became infuriated and grabbed a beater’s bat, and chucked it at Oliver!  It hit Oliver in the stomach and he fell to the ground.  You gasped and leaned over the rail to see if he wasn’t too horribly injured while Cedric booed behind you loudly.

The other Slytherins laughed, and after a few minutes of resuming the game, they scored.  Flint pointed to one side of the field, and a few Slytherin members boxed one of the Gryffindor members in and she ran into one of the towers.  More booing erupted from the crowd, and Slytherin scored again. 

Harry got distracted by something a moment later, though, and you squinted to see what it was.  A small golden ball zipped around him, and you recognized it as the snitch!  He flew after it, but before he could reach it, his broom began bucking and swerving of its own accord! 

“What’s Harry’s broom doing?” Cedric asked, worried.

“I don’t know!  It just started doing that after he saw the snitch!”

“Someone’s playing dirty.”

To your terror, Harry was bucked off his broom a moment later, but managed to hold on with one arm!  “Harry hold on!” you shouted as the broom continued to try to rid itself of his grasp.  Just as it seemed he could hold on no longer, someone in of the teachers’ stands began shouting, “Fire!  Fire!”

Harry’s broom stopped acting out in the distraction, and he clambered back on with some difficulty.  “What happened?” Cedric asked, standing next to you.

“Something caught fire in one of the teachers’ stands!  His broom stopped trying to throw him immediately after, so I think it was one of the teachers doing it.”

“Adults can be so petty sometimes!” Cedric grumbled.  Harry took off after the snitch as he righted himself.  Harry rammed into the Slytherin Seeker, but was butted out. He returned moments later, smashing the Seeker again as the Snitch dove. The boys follow, but they approach the ground quickly. The Slytherin Seeker backed out, and Harry pulled up his broom as he followed the Snitch, feet above the ground. Harry stood up on his broom, and stepped forward, trying to grab the ball.  You watched, petrified as he went too far, and toppled off the broom with a yelp, tumbling on the ground. He gets up and lurched, and the crowd gasped.

He lurched again, and the small golden snitch toppled out of his mouth and into his hand!  You and Cedric cheered raucously as Gryffindor gained 150 points and won the game!  Harry raised the snitch in the air triumphantly as his team celebrated their victory.


	10. 10

The next few months went by in a blur, and you were relieved when nothing too exciting happened.  Snape continued to shoot nasty looks at you and Harry during class, and despite trying to get them to stop multiple times, Draco and Harry still fought relentlessly.  It annoyed you to no end, but you couldn’t stop it, so eventually you gave up.

Finally, winter break came, and to your surprise, your parents wanted to see you back for Christmas!  They did not, however, want Harry coming, so the day you were to leave, you regretfully said goodbye to him until break was over. 

“It’s alright (y/n), I’d much rather be here than back there!  And besides, Ron will be with me!”

“That’s true.  I’ll try to buy you a present though, and hopefully Soren will be able to fly it to you.”

You hugged and bid him farewell, then left to get to the train before it left.  You were going to miss Cedric as well, and even though you were only going to be away for a little over two weeks, the two of you still exchanged addresses.  Draco was waiting for you on the platform, the larger bags you were taking had already been loaded.  You still carried Soren with you though, you didn’t want her getting crammed in with the luggage.  “Do you really have to bring her on there with us?” Draco asked, scrunching up his nose.

“Yes, and if you have a problem with her sitting with us I will happily sit elsewhere,” you retorted.  Draco sighed and said alright, and the two of you boarded the train and found an empty cabin where you settled down and made yourselves comfortable.  Crabbe and Goyle found their way to you two a few minutes later, and you sighed in frustration as they crammed inside and instantly began stuffing their faces again.  Draco rolled his eyes with disgust, and moved to sit next to you.

“They remind me of pigs,” he whispered to you, and you stifled a giggle.

You pulled another one of your books out of your bag a few minutes later, and Draco looked at you hopefully.  He didn’t even have to ask for you to know what he wanted.

“Yes of course I’ll read it,” you said, a knowing grin on your face.  He smiled and leaned against the window behind him as you read.  Once again, Crabbe and Goyle lost interest in a matter of minutes, and only truly looked alive and functioning when the snack cart came around.  Draco had fallen asleep very quickly though, and didn’t wake up when the cart came.  It wasn’t even dark out yet!

You put down your book when the cart came and pulled out the money you still had left over from the beginning of the year.  You looked over the contents of the cart, then glanced back at Draco and picked out a few chocolate toads and a box of Bertie Botts every flavor beans.  You sat back down a moment later and placed a chocolate frog in one of his hands, which lay folded on his lap.

“He has a weird fascination with you,” Crabbe said as you resumed reading.

“I’m sorry?”

“Malfoy, he likes you for some reason.”

You shrugged and continue reading, but you could feel Crabbe staring at you, and your ears turned bright pink.  Draco woke up a few hours later, and stared at the chocolate frog in his hand with confusion.

“Did I really miss the cart?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Yeah, I bought a chocolate frog for you though, I knew you’d want something.”

“Oh, thank you!” he said, and unwrapped the frog.  It hopped around in his hand for a moment until he popped it in his mouth. 

“I’m sorry I fell asleep while you were reading,” he said.

“It’s fine!  You were obviously tired,” you yawned.

“Looks like you’re tired now as well!”

You chuckled and nodded, you had to admit, your eyelids were starting to get rather heavy.  It had grown dark outside, so the dreary weather, the dim light, and the warmth inside the train were all quickly lulling you to sleep.  Eventually, you succumbed to your exhaustion and fell fast asleep.

You were awoken a few hours later by Draco gently shaking your shoulder.  You sat up and blushed as you realized you had at some point fallen onto his shoulder.  You muttered a quiet sorry and grabbed your bag to leave.  Draco walked with you to get your bags, then bid you farewell before his parents could see him with you, not that you minded.  You understood that his family was very proud of their heritage, and you didn’t want him getting in trouble.  Your parents were waiting on a nearby platform, looking grumpy as usual.  “Mum, Dad,” you said tersely as you walked over to them.

“Come along now, it’s late and we want to go home,” Petunia said, and you rolled your eyes as you all briskly walked out of the station.

As you all walked to the car, Vernon told you rather gruffly to get in, and you suddenly wished you were back at Hogwarts with Harry and Ron.  You climbed in the car, and were surprised to see Dudley sitting in the car, waiting.

“Hey Dudley,” you said in a monotone voice.  He grunted back and you inwardly sighed.  It was going to be a long winter break.  Suddenly, you remembered the jelly beans you had gotten on the train, and an evil thought occurred to you.

“Dudley, I got these jelly beans on the train but I don’t really want them.  Do you?” you asked, holding out the small box to him.  His beady eyes lit up and he snatched the box from your hands.  He tore it open with his pudgy fingers, popped a few beans in his mouth, and immediately gagged!

“What is it my boy?” Vernon asked, watching you from the rear view mirror. 

“(Y/n)’s poisoned me!” Dudley wailed, gagging again.

“Must have gotten the vomit flavored bean, poor guy,” you said with mock sympathy, holding back the urge to snort with laughter.  This wasn’t very Hufflepuff of you, but you weren’t afraid to admit this was rather enjoyable!

“What have you fed my poor Diddykins?!” Petunia shrieked, and your urge to laugh became greater.

“Just some jelly beans I bought on the train!”

“Give me that box!”  Petunia snatched the box from Dudley, who looked green in the face, and read out all the flavored beans printed on the back.  Her face became more and more horrified with each flavor, and your amusement grew more and more.

“That’s it!” Vernon hollered when she was done, “When we get home, you are to go straight to your room young lady!  And not a word about you awful cousin or that horrid school, do I make myself clear?!”

“But Dad!” you cried, trying to sound upset about not speaking to them.

“No buts!  And calm that blasted bird of yours down before I leave it on the side of the road!”

This sobered you up quickly, and you instantly pulled some treats out of your bag to pacify poor Soren, who was screeching from all the excitement going on in your car.  The rest of the ride home was quiet and tense, and you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding when you finally pulled up in the all too familiar drive way.

You grabbed your bags from the trunk of the car and slowly made your way upstairs, weighed down by your rather heavy bags.  As soon as you were in your room, you closed your door and flopped on your bed, plopping your book down on your nightstand.  Something sticking out of it caught your eye though, and you flicked on your lamp to get a better look at it.

The corner of a small piece of parchment stuck out of the pages of your book, and you opened it up and pulled out the little paper.  The paper was acting as a bookmark, so you assumed Draco had marked your place with it after you had fallen asleep.  On the small paper was a name and address written in green loopy handwriting.  The writing read, _Draco Malfoy in Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England._

So Draco Malfoy thought he was that slick, huh?  Nevertheless, you grinned giddily and silently promised to write to him over the holidays.  Soren seemed to sense your excitement, and flapped happily in her cage.  “You’re going to get to deliver mail soon!” you told her quietly, and she hooted enthusiastically.

You chuckled and pulled a few treats out for her, and she nibbled at them contently.  A sudden worry occurred to you, however.  What if Draco’s parents found the letters before he did?  What would happen?  A shiver ran down your spine, and you pushed those thoughts aside.  You would have to trust that Draco would get your letters before his parents did.

The next day, you were awoken by the excited hooting and flapping of Soren.

“What is it girl?” you said groggily, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.  She hooted at you again and you looked outside.  Everything glittered beautifully with soft whit snow!  There was frost gathering at the edges of your window, creating delicate designs that melted away from your breath.  “It’s beautiful,” you muttered, looking outside in awe.

You instantly pulled an old Polaroid camera out of your closet and took a picture of the snow outside, hoping it would do the scene enough justice to send to Draco.  After the picture came out and finished developing, you sat down and wrote to him feverishly, telling him about the incident last night, and the beautiful scene you awoke to this morning.  It wasn’t much, but you were so eager to write to him that it couldn’t wait!  You then folded the parchment neatly and placed it and the picture inside a yellow envelope.  Soren hopped eagerly from foot to foot in her cage as you opened her door and gently tied the letter to her leg.  Then you quietly opened the window for her, and she flew out into the pink sky to Draco’s house.

Your father banged on your door not a minute later, shouting, “Shut that pigeon up!”

“Sorry Dad!” you replied.

“And get downstairs, breakfast’s ready.”

You sighed and slid out of your chair.  You really didn’t want to go eat with your family, and you were sure they didn’t want to eat with you either.  Oh well, you didn’t want to cause any more drama than was necessary, so you gradually made your way down the stairs and to the kitchen.

Petunia, Vernon and Dudley were already sat at the table when you joined them, and you noticed how everyone refused to make eye contact with you.  You sat down and began eating, shooting confused glances at your family while they ate.  At one point, you caught Dudley staring fearfully at you from across the table.

“What?” you asked, and he jumped and looked back down at his food.  During lunch, Petunia did the same, and Dudley had become even more jumpy, and you set down your fork after you caught your father shooting wary glances at you during dinner.

“Alright what is it?” you asked, breaking the silence.

“What’s what dear?” Petunia asked timidly, she never called you dear.

“It’s like everyone’s walking on eggshells around me!  You’ve been acting all jittery around me all day and it’s getting on my nerves.”

“Alright, calm down, we don’t want anyone to get hurt – “

“Get hurt?!  What, do you think I’ll hex you – “

“What did I say about speaking about magic?!” Vernon shouted, his face beet red.  Petunia covered her mouth at the mention of magic, Dudley looked as if he were about to cry, and you stared at all of them, absolutely appalled.

“Are you serious?” you said in a quiet voice, “You all ask me home for Christmas, and this is how I am treated?  Like a…. a bloody disease?!  I am your daughter!”

“That’s enough of your talking back lady!  I don’t want to hear another word from you,” Vernon snarled.

“Fine!  If that’s how I’m to be treated by you all, I know where my family is!  Back at Hogwarts!”  You shoved yourself away from the table and stormed off, throwing your coat on and slamming the front door behind you as you walked in the snow.  The soft, icy powder crunched beneath your feet as you walked out into the street and followed the road until you arrived at the small park you used to play at when you were younger.  Sighing sadly, you slumped on a snow covered swing and gently pushed yourself back and forth.  Why couldn’t your parents love you for you?  This was so unfair. 

The sudden fluttering of wings snapped you out of your dejected trance and you looked up to see Soren swoop down and perch on top of the swing set!  “Soren!” you cheered, and stood up on your swing to reach her.  You untied the note on her ankle and sat back down on the swing, hastily opening the silvery green envelope with shaking hands and reading the letter.

It read,

_Dear (y/n),_

_I’m sorry your family doesn’t treat you too well, if I could I’d let you come and visit.  The prank you pulled on your brother must have been great though!  I wish I could have been there to see it.  Bertie Botts every flavor beans are great for tricking greedy muggles like your brother.  Too bad your mother took them away before he ate the whole box, wouldn’t it be funny if he devoured them all at once?_

_Thank you for the picture of the snow, too.  It hasn’t snowed in Wiltshire yet, so I am envious of you.  It’s only been rainy.  Mother and Father were happy to hear that I made a good friend like you, but I haven’t told them about your blood status.  They’d forbid us from speaking and likely worse things as well, so that has to stay secret.  Sorry!  As soon as we graduate though, we can tell them, and they won’t be able to do anything about it._

_~Draco Malfoy_

You smiled as you finished reading the letter, and gently folded it and tucked it in your pocket, as well as the shimmery green ribbon used to tie the note to Soren’s leg.  Feeling much better, you coaxed Soren to perch on your arm and you walked home. 

It was quiet inside your house when you got back, except for the sound of the TV resonating from the living room.  As you closed the door, it creaked and you froze.  Vernon peered around the corner and spotted you standing in the hall, and for a moment his face flushed.  Soren flew upstairs quickly, seeming to sense the tension.  Vernon calmed down a second later though, and said roughly, “Shut that door, you’re going to make all of us catch a cold.”

“Yes Dad,” you sighed, and closed the door the rest of the way.  As you hung up your coat, the letter Draco had written you fell out of your pocket and onto the floor, and Vernon was upon it in a second.  “Dad that’s mine!” you cried, trying to get the note from his large hands.  He easily shrugged you off, and began reading it.

“Petunia!” he hollered a minute later, “Come and read this letter!”

Petunia’s narrow form was next to her husband quickly, and she plucked the letter from his hand.  “What’s this?” Vernon asked you accusingly as she read.

“It’s a letter from a friend of mine,” you answered angrily, your voice shaking slightly.

“Yes but who is he?”

A thought occurred to you, Draco’s family was important in the Wizarding world, and they hated muggles, so why not use that against your parents?  “His name is Draco Malfoy, and his family is VERY powerful back in the you-know-what world, and they hate muggles and wish they were dead.  Except me, their son rather likes me, but they don’t entirely like you.”

A look of fear flashed across your parents’ faces and for a moment you felt triumphant!  That is, until your father tore the letter to shreds in front of your very eyes!  He threw the small pieces of paper onto the floor and shouted, “I WILL NOT HAVE A LITTLE WITCH LIKE YOU PUTTING MY FAMILY IN DANGER, YOU HEAR?!”

Fury burned inside you, and you stormed upstairs, leaving the little shreds of paper on the floor by your father’s feet.  You slammed your bedroom door behind you, hard, and buried your face in your pillow.  Hot tears streamed from your eyes and stained the pillow case, but you didn’t care.  Eventually, you calmed down and instead laid on your back facing the ceiling.  You pulled the small green ribbon out of your pocket and fingered it gently, watching as it shimmered even in the dim light.  It seemed that now you had the same status as Harry in your house.


	11. 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOSH I'm super sorry for not updating this weekend!! I was super busy and completely forgot to update.

The next day, another owl came pecking at your window, and you sat up groaning.  You didn’t remember falling asleep, likely you had been to upset about last night’s events to pay attention to that.  You opened your window and the large owl hopped in, a golden envelope in its beak.  You fed it a few treats and took the letter from it, tearing open the envelope with shaking fingers.  It was from Cedric!  He was asking how you were, and how your Christmas break was going.  He missed you lots and couldn’t wait to see you when break was over.

You smiled and sat down to begin writing to him when the familiar banging of your father’s fist on your door stopped you.  “Always at the most inconvenient times,” you muttered to yourself, “Yes Dad?”

“Breakfast, get downstairs.”

You sighed with frustration and threw on a pair of day clothes then headed downstairs.  “Can I eat upstairs?” you asked as you walked into the dining room.

“Why?” Vernon asked pointedly, narrowing his eyes at you.

“Because I was trying to write to a friend, and you all made it very clear last night that I am not wanted.”

Vernon grunted and went back to eating.  Anger flared inside you, but you kept it under control before you broke his coffee mug or a window.  “Why invite me back anyway?  The moment I joined you all at the station I have not been welcomed in the least.”

“Well, we thought that since you are our daughter you should be with us for Christmas,” Petunia said quietly.

“And do what?  Watch as Dudley continues to be spoiled rotten while I sit there at the back of the room with some cheap gift?  You all have not once in my entire life shown interest in having me around until now!”

When no one responded, you grabbed some toast and walked back upstairs.  You really didn’t want to be with them, and you wanted to go back to Hogwarts as soon as possible.  Maybe you’d write to Harry as well, surely he and Ron were having a much better time than you.

Cedric’s owl was still resting in your room when you got back up, and he and Soren seemed to be getting along beautifully!  You let Soren out of her cage to let her socialize better as you sat down at your desk and wrote a reply to Cedric.  You told him about the wonderful scene you woke up to the other morning, your letter to Draco (you knew he’d like to hear about that), and your continuous fights with your family.  You sealed the letter in a yellow envelope similar to Cedric’s, addressed it to him, then tied it to his bird’s leg and sent the owl away.  Hopefully he’d write back soon, being stuck here on Pivet Drive without contact from friends was going to drive you insane.

A few days went by before Cedric’s owl came pecking at your window again on Christmas morning, and you happily opened it up for him.  Instead of holding a normal envelope though, he had a rather large package that looked heavy for him.  You relieved him of his package and fed him more treats before letting Soren out to socialize.  You tore open the pack gently and pulled out the gifts inside, as well as the letter.

Cedric fumed about your family for the first page, then managed to switch topics and told you about his vacation so far.  He told you about visiting his grandparents, and the many magical shops they had where they lived!  You looked at the gifts he had gotten for you while there: a remembrall like Neville Longbottom’s, a Patented Daydream Charms kit, as well as a variety of different sweets.  There was also a Hufflepuff scarf, though you had no idea how he had gotten it if he wasn’t at Hogwarts, as well as a moving picture of Cedric and his family with Cedric grinning widely and laughing in the middle.

You smiled at the picture and placed it on your desk.  You wished you had gotten something for him and Draco, but what could you get from the muggle world that would be a good gift for wizards?  Maybe you’d write to them and ask.  You wrote to Harry as well, though you didn’t expect a reply for a while.  Draco’s letter came in after tea later that day.  His bird was struggling to carry a box, and happily dropped it on your windowsill before flying off back to its master.

“What’s that?” your mother’s voice asked from behind you.  You whipped around to face her, pushing the box behind you protectively. 

“It’s mine.”

“Well what is it?” she asked, sharper this time.

“I don’t know, but it’s mine, and you can’t take it away.”

“I’m your mother, if I tell you to hand it over, then you will do as I say.”  Petunia took a step towards you and you gripped the package behind you tightly.

“It’s from the Malfoys if you must now,” you said.  Petunia stopped, made an odd huffing sound, then turned on her heel and stormed down the hall.  You let out a sigh of relief and closed the door behind her, then went back to the box on your desk.

You gently untied the rope used by the owl to carry it to you, then tore open the box and admired the contents inside.  There was a beautiful new quill with a bottle of golden ink, a small stuffed badger that jumped out at you when you opened the box and curled itself around the back of your neck, a box of chocolates, and a beautiful necklace with an emerald teardrop charm!

You stared at the necklace in awe and excitedly put it on, admiring its new place around your neck in your closet mirror.  The little stuffed badger sniffed at it curiously and you giggled, then gently picked it up off your shoulders and placed it on your bed.

The small green teardrop contrasted against your skin nicely, and you found yourself admiring it constantly.  You owed Draco a big thanks for this gift, it must have been expensive!  Thankfully you’d be seeing him soon, so you could thank him in person then.  That would also give you time to find a gift for him and Cedric as well!  What on earth could you get them? 

They didn’t need any muggle items; what use would they be?  Well, maybe you could get Draco an audio book and a tape player!  Then he could listen to stories anytime he wanted.  But what about Cedric?  You had no idea what you could get him!  You knew he was part of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, so maybe a model of the Snitch when you go through Diagon Alley again?  That’s it!  That’s what you’d get him.

Later that night during dinner, Vernon eyed your new necklace suspiciously.  You pretended to not notice him.  Your mother began staring at it with envy, but you ignored her too.

“Who gave you that?” Vernon asked after a few minutes.

“If you must know,” you said curtly, “Draco Malfoy bought it for me for Christmas.”

Vernon grunted and Petunia sniffed, and you all continued on with dinner.

When you were fast asleep that night, you dreamt that two people – one very large and one very thin – snuck into your room and tried to steal your necklace, but when one of them reached for it, your little badger lunged at their hand and they jumped back in surprise.  The larger person reached out after your badger was buried in your blanket, but they recoiled in pain as your necklace shocked them!  Deciding that it wasn’t worth it, they left in a disgruntled state.  You smirked in your sleep.

When breakfast came around the next morning, you noticed that your father had a bandage around his hand.  Odd, you thought, just like the person in your dream should have!  You quickly forgot about it though, and went back to eating.  Though the angry looks from your father did confuse you just a little bit.  It wasn’t until your badger leapt at Petunia later that day when she told you that she and the others would be gone for a while did you connect the dots!

“Get that bloody thing away from me!” Your mother shrieked, and you scrambled to scoop up the little toy.  “That thing is vicious!”

“He’s never acted like this before, why…?”

Your voice drifted off when you realized that your dream last night hadn’t been a dream!  “You tried to steal my necklace from me!” you shouted accusingly.

“It was cursed!  You saw what it did to your father’s hand!”

“I can’t believe you!  That was a gift!”

“From a dangerous boy – “

“How dare you call him that!” you shouted, appalled that your parents were acting so out of line, “He is my friend, and he’s a damn good one too!”

“You will watch your mouth young lady.  You may not write to your friends anymore; do you understand me?  And you’ll get rid of that bloody rat by the time we get home.”

Petunia slammed your door shut behind her and you slumped miserably into your desk chair.  You knew your badger wasn’t really alive – Draco used a little spell to make him seem as if he was – but it still felt like he was alive.  Not writing to your friends for the rest of break was going to be harder though.  You were going back to school soon, but they were your only escape. 

“Immobulus,” you said shakily as you pointed your wand at the stuffed animal, turning it back into a toy.  You wiped the tears from your face and gently placed the badger on your bed next to your pillow.  Soren hooted quietly and you let her out of her cage and out into the night to stretch her wings.  After watching her fly for a bit, you sank into your bed and eventually fell asleep.


	12. 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long weekend, sorry folks!

The next few days dragged by agonizingly slow, and you were overjoyed when you finally got to go back to London to go the train station! While you waited for the train to arrive, you ran to a nearby tape store and picked up Draco’s gift, then ran to Diagon Alley and bought Cedric’s model snitch after picking up some more money from Gringotts. After you bought Cedric’s gift, you ran back to the station as fast as you could, your family waiting with your things with peeved looks on their faces.  
“What? You all wouldn’t have let me do this beforehand,” you said, putting the gifts in your bag and pushing the cart that held your trunks inside the station. You heard your father grumble behind you, but you said nothing.  
Through the crowd of people, you spotted a bushy haired girl and grinned. “Hermione!” you shouted, and she turned around. You waved at her and she ran over to you.  
“(Y/n)! Oh it’s great to see you!” she said, hugging you.  
“You too!” You hugged her back, and Vernon cleared his throat behind you. “Right,” you sighed, and plastered a fake smile on your face, “Hermione, this is my family!”  
“Hello!” she smiled and waved at them, and received a series of grumbled hellos. Her smile faded a bit, and you whispered, “They don’t like wizards and witches.”  
Hermione nodded and pursed her lips. “I can take it from here,” you said, turning your attention back to your family, “The gate isn’t that far.”  
They nodded and made their way out of the station, and you breathed out a sigh of relief. “This break has been torturous,” you grumbled as you and Hermione weaved in between people.  
“I’m sure! They don’t seem like the friendly type.”  
“They aren’t. At least, not if you’re a magic user.”  
There weren’t many people by the gate when you arrived at gate 9 ¾, so that made getting through so much easier. The gate was just as crowded as last time, and you and Hermione were relieved when your luggage was loaded and you no longer had to steer the carts through large crowds of people! A shock of white hair caught your eye as you weaved through students and their families, and you grinned as you recognized Draco making his way to the train.  
“I’ll see you later Hermione!” you said, waving goodbye to your friend and hopping on the cart Draco had.  
“Bye (y/n)!”  
The door slid shut behind you and you made your way down the aisle. “(Y/n)!” you heard Draco call as he peeked out from one of the cabins. You beamed at him and ran over, happy to see that Crabbe and Goyle hadn’t boarded yet.  
“Hey Draco!” you said, sitting next to him.  
“How was the rest of your break? You didn’t write after Christmas.”  
“Yes, my family tried to steal the necklace you gave me and forbade me from writing to you.”  
“Oh no! That’s why I jinxed it, I knew they’d try to do something like that. What about the badger?”  
“About that,” you said sadly, and pulled the unmoving toy out of your bag. “It tried to bite my mother and in order to keep her from doing anything rash, I had to turn it back into a toy.”  
“Oh, well that’s alright! At least it wasn’t destroyed!”  
“That’s true. Oh! And before I forget…”  
You rummaged through your bag before pulling out his gift and handing it to him excitedly. “It’s an audio book and a tape recorder. I know you enjoy it when I read to you, and since I can’t always do that, I decided to buy you one of these!”  
“How do you use it? I’ve never used any muggle devices before.”  
“Here, I’ll show you!”  
You were about to teach him how to use it, when you heard two pairs of heavy footsteps making their way down to your cabin. Draco quickly took the gift and stowed it in his luggage before they came in.  
“Crabbe, Goyle,” you greeted as the two boys lumbered in. They grunted in response and Draco glowered.  
“That is not how you greet her you dolts,” he snapped, and you stared at him, appalled. The large boys rolled their eyes and said, “(L/n).”  
Content enough with their correction, Draco settled back in the seat as if nothing happened. The rest of the trip was quiet, and after insisting relentlessly, you let Draco buy you a few treats from the snack cart. He bought you a few chocolate frogs, and while he wasn’t looking, you bought him a few treats as well and snuck them into his pockets while he was asleep later. You managed to stay awake for the rest of the trip, although you were tempted to fall asleep with Draco. The gentle rocking of the train and the warmth of your car made it nearly impossible to stay awake.  
Harry and Ron were waiting at the platform for you and Hermione when the train stopped, and Draco ran off to join the rest of the Slytherins after bidding you farewell until later. Cedric eventually found you as well, and the five of you walked to the road where self-driving carriages awaited you. You and Cedric chatted the entire way, and he was thrilled when you gave him his present.  
“A model of the snitch! Thank you so much (y/n)!”  
“Your welcome! It works almost the same way the actual Snitch does, just not as fast and this one’s bigger.”  
“This will be great for practices!” He pulled you into a tight hug and thanked you again.  
Back in the Great Hall, Dumbledore welcomed everyone back from their vacations, and reminded the fifth years to study hard for their upcoming O.W.L.s, then allowed the feast to commence! You and Cedric ate heartily, and had trouble keeping your eyes open when the feast was over.  
Soren was happy to be back in your room at Hogwarts when you got to your dorms. She was already out of her cage and hooting happily when you entered, and you wondered briefly how she got out on her own, until you noticed the hook that normally latched the cage closed was laying on your trunk. All of her distressed flapping back on Pivet Drive must have slowly worked it lose!  
“I’ll fix it tomorrow,” you said to yourself sleepily, and changed into your sleep clothes after feeding Soren.  
The rest of the winter dragged by agonizingly slow, and you were so happy when spring finally came! Despite the allergies constantly making you sneeze every time you walked outside, the warmer weather was something to look forward to. One warm spring day, you, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were spending your free time in the library after school looking for something (Hermione wouldn’t exactly say what), when Hermione walked up and dropped a large book on the table where you all were sitting.  
“I had you looking in the wrong section! How could I be so stupid? I checked this out a few weeks ago for a bit of light reading,” she huffed.  
“This is light?” Ron commented, earning a glare from Hermione.  
“Of course! Here it is! ‘Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone’!”  
“The what?” you, Ron, and Harry asked in unison.  
“Honestly, don't you three read?” Hermione asked, shrilly, “‘The Philosopher's Stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It will turn any metal into pure gold and produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.’”  
“Immortal?” Ron repeated in disbelief.  
“It means you'll never die.”  
“I know what it means!”  
You shushed Ron and Hermione continued. “‘The only stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist, who last year celebrated his 665th birthday!’ That's what Fluffy's guarding on the 3rd floor. That's what's under the trapdoor...the Philosopher's Stone!”  
“I’m sorry, what who’s guarding on the 3rd floor?” you asked in confusion.  
“Er,” Harry began, “We may have accidentally gone up the third floor one time.”  
“The 3rd floor? As in the one Filch told us not to go to unless we had a death wish?!”  
“Yes, that one,” Ron said meekly, “It was an accident though!”  
“In answer to your original question, Fluffy is a large, three headed dog that’s guarding this stone on the 3rd floor,” Hermione said, unfazed by your distress.  
“A three headed what?!”  
“A three headed dog! Don’t you lot ever listen?”  
Before you could respond, however, Hermione moved on and said that you all should go see Hagrid later that night and tell him that Professor Snape was after the stone. After your expressing your confusion, Harry explained that while you all were gone on break, he had seen Snape interrogating Quirrell about something that was likely the stone.  
“I have missed so much,” you grumbled, slouching in your chair. “Yes, well, now that you know all of this, care to come with us tonight?”  
“I suppose I should since have nothing else to do!”  
Then it was settled, you, Harry, Ron, and Hermione would be meeting up later that night to go down to Hagrid’s to ask him about the stone. You’d likely be out past curfew though, so getting back in would be difficult. As darkness fell later that night, you and the others made your way to Hagrid’s hut, and the dew on the grass was causing you to slip and slide occasionally.  
Harry knocked on the door when you arrived, and moments later, Hagrid’s large form filled the door. “Hagrid!” your cousin greeted.  
Hagrid, lad in an apron and oven mitts, looked down at you all, “Oh, hello. Sorry, don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no fit state to entertain today.” He went to close door, but you all stopped him.  
“We know about the Philosopher's Stone!” you and your friends said in unison.  
The door slowly reopened and Hagrid said, “Oh.”  
He welcomed you all inside and Harry immediately launched into his theory about the stone, and how he believed Snape was going to steal it. “Snape? Blimey, Harry, you're not still on about him, are you?” Hagrid laughed.  
“Hagrid, we know he's after the Stone. We just don't know why,” Harry defended.  
“Snape is one of the teachers protecting the Stone! He's not about to steal it!”  
“What?”  
“You heard. Right. Come on, now, I'm a bit preoccupied today.”  
“Wait a minute,” Harry stopped him, clearly confused, “One of the teachers?”  
“Of course!” Hermione exclaimed, “There are other things defending the Stone, aren't there? Spells, enchantments.”  
“That's right. Waste of bloody time, if you ask me.”  
You glanced over to Ron, who hadn’t said a thing the entire time. A huge boarhound stood near your friend, sniffing him curiously, and he shuffled away. “Ain't no one gonna get past Fluffy,” Hagrid continued, “Hehe, not a soul knows how. Except for me and Dumbledore. I shouldn't have told you that. I shouldn't have told you that.”  
You remembered the others telling you about the huge, three headed dog and shivered. A cauldron on the other side of the hut began rattling, and Hagrid rushed over to it to pull something out. He gently placed it on a table, and you and the others crowed around it to see what it was.  
“Uh, Hagrid, what exactly is that?” you asked, looking at the large egg on the table.  
“That? It's a ... its um…”  
“I know what that is! But Hagrid, how did you get one?” Ron spoke up.  
“I won it. Off a stranger I met down at a pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter of fact.”  
Just then, the egg began to rattle and crack, and the five of you crowded around more to see what would hatch. A piece of the egg flew off, and a small dragon emerged. It squeaked and slipped on a piece of shell, and you giggled! “Is that...a dragon?” You asked, hardly able to believe your eyes.  
“That's not just a dragon!” Ron said, amazed, “That's a Norwegian Ridgeback! My brother Charlie works with these in Romania.”  
“Isn't he beautiful? Oh. Bless him, look. He knows his mummy. Hehe. Hallo, Norbert,” Hagrid cooed.  
“Norbert?” Harry asked.  
“Yeah, well, he's got to have a name, doesn't he?” your large friend reasoned, and Ron laughed. Hagrid scratched the underside of his dragon’s chin, and Norbert burped. A small flame flew out of his mouth and caught on Hagrid’s beard, who quickly patted it out and said, “Well...he'll have to be trained up a bit, of course.”  
Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted movement in one of Hagrid’s windows. Hagrid must have as well, because he looked over and asked who was outside. You turned to look, and were surprised to see Draco staring back at you! Draco’s eyes widened and he disappeared.  
“Malfoy,” Harry answered Hagrid, loathing filling his voice.  
“I’ll take care of him,” you said, and rushed out of the hut to catch up with your Slytherin friend. “Draco wait!” you called out. Even in the dim light, his hair nearly glowed.  
“What are you doing out here?” you asked as you caught up to him.  
“I-I saw you sneaking out and I wanted to make sure you weren’t getting in trouble!”  
“You were spying on us weren’t you?”  
“What? No! How dare you think that!”  
You crossed your arms and Draco’s face fell. “I may have been.”  
“Why?”  
“I overheard you talking about the stone, and I didn’t like the sound of it, so I spied on you to see what you all were doing. I swear I was only doing it because I was worried about you!”  
“You don’t need to worry about me!” you said, your face softening, “I can handle myself.”  
“Yeah, I know. I just can’t help it sometimes, with you being a muggle-born and whatnot.”  
You smiled to yourself at that. “Come on, let’s go back inside,” you said, and the two of you walked back to your dorms. You knew the others would get back just fine! However, you didn’t notice that as you and Draco parted ways, instead of going to his dorm, he went to McGonagall’s office instead.


	13. 13

The next morning, after a bit of quiet chastising from Cedric for sneaking out, you went down to breakfast in a rather foul mood.  You didn’t know why, you had gone to sleep feeling fine, you were just irritable this morning.  You saw Harry, Ron and Hermione by the entrance of the great hall, and went to go say hi to them, when you noticed they seemed to be just as foul as you!

All three of them looked frustrated, and kept grumbling at each other.  “Good morning,” you greeted them.

“What’s so good about it?” Ron snapped.

“Ronald!”  Hermione smacked his arm and he shot a glare at her.

“What’s got your pants in a twist?” you said, taken aback by his sudden and harsh attitude.

“Malfoy turned us in last night when he saw us at Hagrid’s and we were given detention,” Harry said.

“What?  But he went to his dorm right after we walked back!”

“Well he lied and turned is in to Prof. McGonagall.  How come he didn’t get you?” Hermione asked.

 “They’re close, he’s probably protecting his little muggle friend,” Ron hissed, and you glared at him.

“I apologize, Ronald Weasley, for being under the impression that he went straight to his dorm just as I had!  That was what he told me he was going to do, and until now, I had no reason to believe otherwise!” you snarled, then turned on your heel and marched back to your table where Cedric waited for you.

“What was that all about?” he asked as you sat down.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” you answered a bit more aggressively than you would have liked.  Realizing your mistake, your frustrated expression softened and you said, “Sorry, woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“It’s alright,” Cedric said, and pushed a plate of food towards you, “Eat up!  It’ll put you in a better mood.”

Later that day, after school was over, you met up with the others again and after Ron apologized to you, they explained what exactly had happened.  
“Now we, as well as Malfoy, have to serve detention.  Serves that git right though, snitching on us like that,” Ron complained.

“Well, at least now he should have learned his lesson,” you said absent mindedly, too focused on your homework to really pay attention.  “Tell me how bad it is tomorrow, okay?”

“We will, don’t worry,” Harry chuckled.

The next day came by quickly, and you soon found yourself sitting in the back of the library with the others as they explained to you what they had seen and learned while in detention.  You hadn’t expected them to learn anything really, but after you found out that they had to go into the forbidden forest, you were all ears!  Harry had seen Voldemort while there, and figured out that Snape was likely trying to get the stone to give to him!  You were astonished by this, last you knew, Voldemort was dead!  But now he was running around the forest just outside the school grounds and killing unicorns!

A few days later, though, you had nearly pushed those events out of your mind, and began focusing on upcoming exams.  You were horribly nervous about them, and despite constant reassurance from Draco and Cedric, you were still terrified.  Draco helped you study for your potion exam as best he could (he was one of the best students), and Cedric helped you with Charms.  They helped so much, in fact, that you felt quite confident in your abilities while going into those tests.  Snape even seemed slightly annoyed by your confidence!

After all the exams were finished, and you were released from class, you joined the others out in the courtyard.  “I've always heard Hogwarts' end of the year exams were frightful, but I found that rather enjoyable,” Hermione said as you all walked.

“Speak for yourself,” Ron said, “All right there, Harry?”

“My scar, it keeps burning.”

“It’s happened before,” you said.

“Not like this!”

“Perhaps you should see the nurse,” Ron suggested.

“I think it's a warning. It means dangers coming,” he hissed in pain again, then spotted Hagrid by his hut.  “Of course!”

Harry took off down the field to the giant man’s hut, leaving you three standing together in confusion.  You ran after Harry a second later, and so did Ron and Hermione.  Harry eventually slowed and you caught up to him.  “What is it?” you asked breathlessly.

“Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger shows up and just happens to have one?”

You all walked up to Hagrid as he played a little tune on a flute, not paying any attention to you.  Harry began speaking louder to catch his attention, “I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets? Why didn't I see it before? Hagrid, who gave you the dragon egg?”

Hagrid stopped playing and looked up at you all.  “What did he look like?"

"I don't know. I never saw his face. He kept his hood up."

"The stranger, though, you and he must have talked!"

"Well, he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told him. I said, 'After Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem.'"

"And did he seem interested in Fluffy?"

"Well, of course he was interested in Fluffy! How often do you come across a three headed dog, even if you're in the trade? But I told him. I said, 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him. Take Fluffy, for example, just play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep.'"

The four of you gaped at him. and he realized his mistake.  You all took off back to the school, Hagrid calling after you, but you ignored him.  You tore through the halls to Prof. Mcgonagall's classroom and ran over to her desk.  "We have to see Professor Dumbledore, immediately!" Harry shouted.

Prof. Mcgonagall looked up at him over the rim of her glasses and said, "I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London."

"He's gone?! Now? But this is important! It's about...the Philosopher's Stone."

"How do you know about that?" she asked, utterly shocked.

"Someone's going to try and steal it," you spoke up.  Her head whipped to face you so fast you were afraid she might get whiplash!  "I don't know how you three found out about the stone, but I can assure you it is perfectly well-protected. Now would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly."

Realizing you were going to get nowhere with her, the four of you turned around and exited the class.  When you all were in the hallway though, Harry spoke up.  "That was no stranger Hagrid met in the village. It was Snape, which means he knows how to get past Fluffy."

"And with Dumbledore gone..." you began, but a sudden presence cut you off.  Snape had appeared behind you all and was glaring down at you all.  

"Good afternoon. Now, what would three young Gryffindors and a Hufflepuff such as yourselves be doing inside on a day like this?" he drawled. 

"Uh...we were just..." you started, but quieted again when he shot a harsh glare at you.  

"You want to be careful. People will think you're up to something."

With that being said, he stalked off down the hall, leaving you all to ponder your next move.  "Now what do we do?" Hermione asked.

"We go down the trapdoor. Tonight." Harry answered, and a shiver ran down your spine.  There was no getting out of this now!

That night, during dinner, Draco dragged you away from your table to speak to you privately.  "What's going on Draco?" you asked, concerned.

"I know," he answered, "I know what you're planning to do tonight."

Your stomach plummeted.  "You do?" you squeaked.  

"Yes, I won't bother explaining how, but you can't go with them!"

"Draco, I have to!"

"No you don't!  You'll get hurt!  Or worse!"

"You can't stop me!"

"I'll tell a teacher!"

You stopped arguing and narrowed your eyes at him.  "You wouldn't."

"I would!  I don't want you getting hurt (y/n!)"

"I will be fine!"

Draco paused for a moment and scanned your face, then breathed out a long sigh and said, "Fine, but if you don't I will be very cross!"

You grinned at him, you loved how he couldn't come up with an actual threat when it came to you!  "Thank you," you said, and hugged him.  He slowly hugged back, and said, "Please be careful, (y/n)."

"Of course I'll be careful!"

 

Once everyone was in their dorms late that night, you snuck out of your room and to the trapdoor Harry had directed you to earlier in the evening.  When you got there, you could here whispered voices and footsteps, and your heartbeat spiked.  Had Draco gone against his word and told a teacher anyway?  A hand behind you landed on your shoulder while another covered your mouth, stifling your scream of surprise.  You whipped around an the faces of Harry, Ron and Hermione, all huddled underneath an invisible blanket!

"You all scared me half to death!" you hissed at them, and Ron snickered.  "Sorry (y/n)," Harry mumbled, and they took off the invisible blanket, fully revealing themselves.  "Get under," Hermione hissed, and you joined them under the fabric.  "Alohamora," she whispered, and the trap door shot open.  You all clambered in, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Once your eyes adjusted to the darkness, you looked around and spotted a huge, black, three headed dog.  Fluffy.  You clamped both hands over your mouth and held back another scream so that you wouldn't wake the huge beast.  "He's asleep," Ron assured you, and you nodded, still not removing your hands from over your mouth.  A harp played music softly over by the dog, and Harry gritted his teeth.  "Snape's already been here. He's put a spell on the harp."

"Uh. It's got horrible breath!" Ron complained.  Hermione ignored him and commanded you all to move the dog's paw, which was slung lazily over a trapdoor.  You all pushed the huge paw off the door and Harry opened it quietly.  "I'll go first. Don't follow until I give you a sign.  If something bad happens, get yourselves out...Does it seem a bit...quiet?"

"The harp," you realized with dread, "It stopped playing."

Something wet landed on Ron's shoulder and he stared at it in disgust, then slowly turned around and spotted Fluffy, staring down at you all.  He lunged at you all, gnashing his teeth and thrashing out, trying to catch you.  "Jump!  Go!" Harry commanded as it dove for you all. 


	14. 14

You screamed as you plummeted through the darkness, only gaining speed as you fell.  For a moment, you thought you wouldn't stop until you landed on a pile of vines!  You looked around, searching for your friends as your eyes adjusted to the darkness, when you heard Ron's voice come from your right.  "Whoa," he said, looking around, "Lucky this plant-thing is here, really!"

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted movement, and you turned to see one of the vines slithering across your lap!  You screamed again, and tried to kick it off only for it to wrap around your leg instead!  It felt slimy and cold, and its grip grew tighter the more you struggled to free yourself.  They began sliding across Ron and Harry too, and they began attempting to pull themselves away before they were captured!  The only person staying calm through the whole thing was Hermione, who was trying her best to get your attention.  Her cool hand latched onto yours and you looked at her desperately.  "Stop moving, all of you! This is Devil's Snare,you have to relax. If you don't, it will only kill you faster!"

"What?!" you shrieked.

"Kill us faster?! Oh, now I can relax!" Ron cried.

Hermione managed a smile in your direction as she was sucked under the vines.  You felt faint as you watched the top of her head disappear below the vines, and all the blood rushed from your head as you fell back, limp.  As you did, you realized you were being pulled down as well, and you heard Ron and Harry crying out your name as you too disappeared beneath the snares.  You fell to the ground a moment later, and sat up startled.  Hermione knelt by your side and helped you stand, although you nearly fell again as your head felt light for a moment.  When she was sure you were okay, she turned her attention back to the boys.  "Just relax!" she shouted.

"Hermione! Where are you?!" Harry replied.

"Just do what she says!" you commanded.

A second later, Harry fell through and landed with a thud a few feet away.  Ron still hadn't relaxed though, and continued thrashing around in the plants above you!  "Harry!" he called out, and you helped your cousin to his feet.  "Are you okay?" you asked as he bruhed himself off.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." 

"Help!" Ron called out again.

"He's not relaxing, is he?" you asked, concerned for his well being.  

"Apparently not," Harry grumbled.

"Help! Help me!"

"We've got to do something!" Hermione said.

"What?"

" Uh, I remember reading something in Herbology," you spoke up, "Um Devil's Snare, Devil's Scare, it's deadly fun...but will sulk in the sun! That's it! Devil's Snare hates sunlight!"

Hermione immediately whipped out her wand and shouted, "Lumus Solem!"

A beam of light shot out the other end of her wand and the vines recoiled, allowing Ron to drop down unharmed.  Harry ran over to his friend and helped him up, "Ron, are you okay?"

"Yeah."

Ron stood up and looked at you all rather sheepishly.  "Whew!  Lucky we didn't panic!" he said.

"Lucky (y/n) pays attention in Herbology."

The sound of fluttering wings filled your ears a moment later and you turned around, trying to see where it was coming from.  The others had heard it too, and you found a door a minute later.  You all passed through it and into a large room filled with flying golden birds!  However, upon closer inspection, you realized they weren't birds, but rather keys!  "Curious. I've never seen birds like these," Hermione wondered aloud.

"They aren't birds," you said, "they're keys! And I'll bet one of them fits that door."  Another door stood at the other end of the room, and as you all walked over to it, another curiosity greeted you.  A broomstick hung suspended in the air, unmoving.  " What's this all about?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, it's strange," you replied.

Ron creeped over to the door and rattled the knob, but nothing happened.  He shrugged and you all turned your attention back to the keys.  "Ugh! What're we going to do? There must be 1000 keys up there!" Hermione grumbled.

"We're looking for a big old fashioned one. Probably rusty like the handle," you pointed out.

"There I see it!" Harry pointed at key with a broken wing, and he glanced at the broom.  "What's wrong Harry?" you asked.

"It's too simple," he said.  

"Oh, go on, Harry! If Snape can catch it on that old broomstick, you can! You're the youngest seeker in a century!" Ron said.

Harry still seemed unsure, however, so you spoke up.  "If you don't want to, Harry, I can give it a go!  I'm not nearly as good of a flier as you though, you may have to take over."

Harry nodded and you hopped on the broom.  As soon as you were on it though, all the keys were charging towards you in an instant!  You pushed off the ground and flew high into the air after the key to the door, trying to fly ahead of the others.  Some of them were faster than you expected though, and flew in front before rounding on you.  You dodged their attacks as best you could, but more than a few of them managed to zip by you and tear your clothes and scrape your legs, arms, and cheeks.  You swatted a few of them away before finally catching the key you needed and flying as fast as you could back to the others.

"Catch!" you shouted, and threw the key to Hermione.  She caught it and unlocked the door, ushering everyone inside before you flew through yourself, tumbling off the broom and onto the floor in an ungraceful landing.  Harry rushed over and helped you up while Hermione examined the many cuts the keys had given you.  "Make sure you bandage them when you get back to your dorm," she advised, and you nodded.  When you were sure you were fine, you all looked around the dark room, taking in your new surroundings.  Rubble and debris lay strewn about the floor, and you noticed that you left footprints in the layer of dust on the floor.  "I don't like this," Hermione said, "I don't like this at all."

"Where are we?  A graveyard?" Harry asked.

Ron sighed, and looked at you all, "This is no graveyard.  It's a chessboard."

Studying the statues lined up on either side of the room, you realized he was right, it was a chessboard!  Harry pointed out that there was another door at the opposite side of the room, but when you all tried to walk over to it, the large pawns in front of it drew their swords!  You all jumped back before they could hit you.  "Now what do we do?" you asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ron said, "We've got to play our way across the room. All right. Harry, you take the Bishop's square. Hermione, you'll be the Queen's side castle.  (Y/n), you take king. As for me, I'll be a knight."

You all took your places on your respective pieces, and Ron began commanding you on what to do next.  "Ron, you don't suppose this is going to be like...real wizard's chess, do you?" you asked nervously.  You had seen other students play this before, and even though they were technically inanimate objects, seeing the pieces destroy each other was a little bit brutal.  "You there," Ron pointed at one of the pawns, "D-5!"  The pawn moved diagonally to a white square, where a white pawn almost immediately destroyed it!

"Yes, (y/n), I think this is going to be exactly like wizard's chess!"

Your eyes widened at the pile of rubble on the board where the pawn used to be, and you gulped.  The game continued with Ron giving orders on where to move.  More than once your pieces were promptly destroyed by one of the white pieces, and your hope began dwindling.  More than once, a piece near you was blown to pieces, an the rubble only nearly missed your head.  Small stones and other debris scraped your skin, adding to the many cuts on your arms and legs.  Finally, all that was left of your pieces were the ones you, Ron, Hermione, and Harry were playing.  "Wait a minute," you muttered.

"You understand right, (y/n)? Once I make my move, the Queen will take me...then Harry will be free to check the King."

"No, Ron! No!" Harry protested.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, not realizing what was about to happen.  "He's going to sacrifice himself!" you answered, and her eyes widened.

"No, Ron you can't!  There has to be another way!"

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?" Ron turned his attention to Harry, "Harry, it's you that has to go on. I know it. Not me, not Hermione, not (y/n), you."

Slowly, Harry nodded and your heart sank.  This couldn't be happening!  "Knight...to H-3," Ron said, and his piece moved to the spot he commanded.  The queen turned and advanced towards him, and your stomach filled with dread as she got closer and closer to him.  Finally, she raised her sword and slammed it into Ron's horse, launching him into the air!  He fell to the ground hard, and lay unmoving.  You began moving to see if he was okay when Harry stopped you.  "NO! Don't move! Dont forget, we're still playing."

You swallowed hard and moved back to your spot reluctantly.  Harry moved diagonally to the king and said, "Checkmate."  The king dropped his sword and you breathed out a sigh of relief, you all had won!  You ran to Ron's aid, with Hermione hot on your heels.  Harry joined you a moment later, and said, "Take care of Ron. Then, go to the owlery. Send a message to Dumbledore. Ron's right...I have to go on."

"Be careful Harry," you said, hugging him tightly.  You were terrified he may not come out safely.  Harry hugged you back and reassured you he'd be alright.  "You'll be okay, Harry. You're a great wizard, you really are," Hermione added.

"Not as good as you," Harry grinned, and she smiled back at him.

"Me? Books and cleverness? There are more important things. Friendship, and bravery. And Harry, just be careful."

He nodded and walked off through the large door on the other side of the room, and you couldn't help but worry for him.  


	15. 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M NOT DEAD :D

As soon as the doors closed behind Harry, you leapt to your feet and dashed out the door to get help.  Once back in Fluffy's room, you quietly opened the trap door and set up a new harp to play music, and the large dog fell fast asleep  First, you ran to Prof. McGonagall's room and banged on her door until she opened it, disgruntled and very peeved that someone would be waking her at such an ungodly hour. She remained so until you told her that Ron had gotten injured and that Harry had gone ahead to fight Voldemort on his own so that he wouldn't get the stone.  A look of shock and horror filled her thin face and she immediately told you to rouse Madam Pomfrey and get her to help Hermione get Ron up to the infirmary.  You nodded and the two of you went separate ways.  Madam Pomfrey was just as upset as Prof. McGonagall when you woke her, if not more so, but agreed to help Ron and Hermione while you wrote a note to Dumbledore and took off to the owlery.  You found Soren perched with some of the school birds and began quickly tying the note to her leg.  "I need you to take this to Dumbledore as fast as you can.  It's urgent.  Do you understand?"

Soren blinked knowingly at you and you grinned at her.  "Good girl, there will be extra treats when you return!"  With that, Soren spread her slender wings and flew out of the owelry, tearing through the night sky.  You smiled triumphantly, knowing full well how fast she could fly and that your note would get to Dumbledore soon.  When Soren could no longer be seen, you dashed back in the school and ran through the halls back to the room where Fluffy still laid asleep.  You snuck around his huge form, careful to make sure the new harp you had set up was still playing when you opened the trapdoor and jumped into the darkness.  The rest of the obstacles were easy now that you knew how to pass them, and you quickly found yourself back by Hermione's side in the chess room.  Ron still lay unconscious, but after Madam Pomfrey checked over him, she said he'd be alright and he'd be awake by morning.  You and Hermione both let out a sigh of relief!

"Now, if you two could help me bring him back to the infirmary, that would be most appreciated."

"Wait," you said, stopping her, "Where's Prof. McGonagall?"

"She went in after Harry," Hermione answered.  Your eyes widened. 

"Is he alright?"

Before anyone could respond, however, the large door in which Harry had disappeared through earlier flew open and Prof. McGonagall strode out, Harry's limp form laying in her arms.  "Oh my god," you gasped, and rushed over to her.

"Is he okay?  What happened?  Where's Vol- he-who-shall-not-be-named?"

"Calm down child," the professor said, and you quieted, though still casting worried glances at Harry's unconscious form.

"He will be fine, fighting with he-who-shall-not-be-named has exhausted him however.  He needs rest.  Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yes Professor?" 

"Would you mind taking care of this one too?"

"Of course not.  Come along everyone."

Madam Pomfrey lead you all out of the room and back up to the main part of the school.  The infirmary was dimly lit when you entered; the only light source coming from a few torches around the room and the moonlight streaming in from the large windows.  When Harry and Ron were properly settled in and your many cuts had been cleaned and taken care of, Madam Pomfrey and Prof. McGonagall sent you and Hermione back to your dorms.  "But we want to stay with them!" you protested as Prof. McGonagall began ushering you out.

"We want to make sure they're okay!" Hermione added.

"They are in good hands!  Now both of you, off to bed before I assign you detention!"

You sighed in defeat and stalked off to your dorm after saying goodnight to Hermione.  Warm light was cast across your common room when you entered, and you immediately knew you had been caught.  "What are you doing (y/n)?" Cedric's voice came from behind you.  

"Hey Cedric," you said, smiling sheepishly and turning to face him.  He had a stern look on his face but his eyes were filled with worry.  It was a rather odd sight, seeing him still clad in his pajamas and an angry look on his normally smiling face.  His usually flushed cheeks were pale though.  "Are you okay?" you asked, losing your smile.

"Where were you?  You disappeared in the middle of the night and after everything that's been happening - " 

"Cedric, I'm fine," you reassured him.

"All those bandages say otherwise.  What on Earth were you doing?"

You sighed, you knew you couldn't keep what had happened secret from him.  "It's a long story, I'll tell you in the morning.  Get some sleep, you look like you need it!" you said semi jokingly.  A half smile flitted across Cedric's face and you relaxed a bit.

 "Alright, fine.  But you and I are having a long talk after that, understand?"

"Yes Cedric."

He turned to leave but you caught him before he reached the stairs to his room and pulled him into a tight hug.  "Thank you," you said, "for everything."  He hugged you back and rested his chin on your head.  "Of course, now off to bed with you!"  You grinned up at him, then yawned, the exhaustion from everything that had happened earlier suddenly weighing on you, and trudged off to bed.

The next morning came far too early, and you groaned in annoyance when your roommates finally woke you.  You threw on your uniform and slowly made your way down the stairs, every move you made sent aching pains through your whole body.  Cedric was waiting for you in the common room when you finally came down, and he didn't hold back from chuckling at your tired and pained state.  "It's not funny, I'm really sore," you grumbled.

"I know, but your the only person to blame for the state that you're in!"

You glared at him but said nothing.  Breakfast was going to start soon and you were not in the least looking forward to the walk to the great hall!  Thankfully, Cedric was kind enough to walk behind with you as you shuffled your way behind your housemates.  "So," he said, breaking the silence, "Want to explain what happened last night?"

"Oh yeah, forgot I promised to tell you about that."

You told him about everything.  About Voldemort's return, how he had killed a Unicorn, how he was linked to Harry, everything.  When you began telling him about your adventure in the hidden chambers Fluffy guarded, his eyes grew wide and he shook his head.  "I don't know if that was incredibly brave of you or horribly stupid."

"Likely the latter," you joked.  Then you told him about how Harry went on alone to face Voldemort, and he facepalmed,  _ **hard.**_   "He what?!" he whisper shouted, careful to not get any attention from the others.

"Yeah, now that I think about it that was pretty stupid too."

"You don't say!  Please don't do anything like that again, alright?  I don't want you to die some gruesome death."

"I know, Cedric, and believe me that's the last time I'm doing anything like that."

The Great Hall was brightly lit when you all walked in, and the smells of food instantly made your sore body relax.  The food smelled wonderful!  You knew Draco would be walking in soon, though, and you wanted to see him before class began.  After a few minutes of waiting, you spotted his white blonde hair bobbing through the crowd.  "Draco!" you called out, trying to make your way towards him.  "Draco!  Over here!"  You could see him turn to face you, and you grinned as he quickly ran over to you.  "(Y/n)!  You're okay!" he grinned, hugging you tightly.  You hissed in pain, the soreness of your body and the cuts not doing well with his tight embrace.  He quickly pulled away, though, and looked you over with concern.

"Are you okay?  I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"No, you're fine, just a bit sore is all."

"And cut up!  What happened?"

"Er, let's just say there were some aggressive...birds," you answered, not entirely sure how he'd react to about a thousand keys chasing you down while you were on an old broom.  Draco gave you an odd look but didn't say anything more on the subject, but instead made you promise to tell him everything later on after school, which you of course agreed to do.  After everything that had transpired earlier, Dumbledore had given you and the others permission to have the day off, seeing as Ron had been unconscious until about an hour ago, Harry was still passed out in the infirmary, and you and Hermione had gotten almost no sleep at all, and were exhausted from all the excitement.  After breakfast had finished, you spent the day hanging out with Ron and Hermione while you waited for Harry to wake up.  You couldn't help but worry about him.  You still had no idea about what had happened when he left you all!  Prof. McGonagall refused to tell you what she had seen even after you were all safe and sound.  However, you were sure Harry would tell you when he woke up, which was hopefully soon.

You had tried to visit him in the infirmary earlier, but after his sixteenth visitor, Madam Pomfrey began refusing everyone else, including you.  This annoyed you greatly, of course, but you knew you couldn't win in an argument with Madam Pomfrey.  A few hours after breakfast, you, Ron, and Hermione were hanging out on the stairs when you spotted movement out of the corner of your eye.  You looked over and spotted Harry walking over to you all!

"Harry!" you cheered, and ran down the stairs to greet him.  You ran over to him and hugged him tightly, overjoyed to see that he was alright.  Your body ached from the sudden, tight embrace, but you couldn't have cared less!  Harry laughed and hugged you back, then broke the hug to greet the others as well.  Ron and Hermione were leaning over the railing with large grins on their faces when they spotted him, and Harry beamed back from your side.

"All right there Ron?" Harry asked.

"All right!  You?"

"All right," he shrugged, "Hermione?"

"Never better!"

Later that night, after school had ended and you had spent most of the day with Draco, dinner had come as well as house awards.  After lots of encouragement and persuasion from Cedric, you managed to sneak over to the Slytherin table and sit with Draco, although you did receive many glares from other Slytherins.  You wanted to go back to your table after seeing so many unwelcoming faces, but Draco managed to convince you that you were fine where you were, and to ignore his housemates.  You smiled softly at him and settled into your seat a little more.  

Prof. McGonagall tapped her glass a moment later and the glares ceased, as well as the excited chatter from the many students, as everyone turned their attention to the teachers' table.  Dumbledore rose and stepped forth to his stand, and in his low, commanding voice, began speaking.  "Another year gone. And now, as I understand it, the house cup needs awarding, and the points stand thus. In fourth place, Gryffindor with 312 points!"

You clapped for your cousin's house, too bad they got last!  

"Third place, Hufflepuff, with 352 points!"

You cheered and applauded for your house, trying your best to ignore the glares you received.  

"In second place, Ravenclaw, with 426 points, and in first place, with 472 points, Slytherin House!"

You cheered and congratulated Draco!  He gave you an appreciative grin and thanked you over the raucous cheers.  Dumbledore began speaking again and the hall quieted once more.  "Yes, yes, well done Slytherin, well done Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account, and I have a few last minute points to award."

Oh?  This should be interesting.  "To Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool intellect when others were in great peril, 50 points!"

You cheered and applauded for your friend as she sat in a dazed giddiness at her table across the room.  "Second, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess!"

More cheering, though a shiver ran down your spine as you remembered what had happened.  "Third, to Miss (y/n) Dursley, for her quick action and eagerness to do the right thing, I award 50 points!" a shocked and dazed grin crept onto your face.  You didn't even register the applause!  Draco patted you on the back and congratulated you.  "And fourth to Mr. Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house 60 points."

You clapped for your cousin, but you were still recovering from the shock to really cheer for him.  "And finally, it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I award 10 points to Neville Longbottom!"

An immense cheering and applause filled the hall as Neville grinned from ear to ear!  Draco's face fell, and you lightly smacked his arm.  "Don't be such a sore loser!" you scolded.  Draco frowned at you but said nothing.  Dumbledore hushed the excited students once more as he spoke up again, "Assuming that my calculations are correct, I believe that a change of direction is in order.  Gryffindor wins the House Cup!"

You cheered loudly for your friends' house, they earned it, even if you felt a little bad for Draco!  You looked at your friend who was glumly resting his chin on his hand.  You laid a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at you, frustration and disappointment written all over his face.

"It's okay, there's still next year!" you said in an attempt to make him feel better.

He gave you a small smile and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right!"

 

A few days later it was time for you to return back to Pivet Drive and back to the dreaded residence of the Dursleys'.  You packed your things glumly, not wanting to leave the home and friends you had made here in Hogwarts.  Cedric and Draco especially!  You had promised to write to each other and Cedric had expressed how sorry he was that you couldn't spend the summer with him.  Anywhere would have been better than the Dursleys' at this point!  Your stay with them during winter break had ended on a rather sour note, so you knew they were looking forward to seeing you even less than before.  How wonderful.

You boarded the train with Draco a few hours later, and found an empty cabin to settle down in for the long train ride back to London.  Thankfully Crabbe and Goyle seemed to find somewhere else to sit, so you and Draco were able to enjoy the ride without interruption.  As the train began moving, Draco pulled a familiar package out of his bag.  "Would you mind showing me how to use it now?" he grinned.  

"Of course not," you grinned, and sat down next to him.  You gently took the player out of his hands and set it on your lap, then placed the headphones around his ears.  He gave you a confused look, but you held up a hand.  You pulled one of the audiobooks out of the package and popped it into the player and hit play.  Draco jumped, then a grin filled his face!  "It's playing!" he cheered.

"I can tell!" you giggled.

"How did you do it?"

"I'll show you again!"

You and Draco spent the rest of the train ride listening to audiobooks, eating candies, and sleeping until it was finally time to bid each other farewell until the end of summer.


End file.
